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War for Cybertron: Kingdom

2021-02-28T14:41:41Z

OptimusPrime 13131:

{{nav-WarForCybertronSiege}}
[[File:WFC-Kingdom-main-artwork.jpg|thumb|250px|Reject vehicularity. Return to monke.]]
'''''War For Cybertron: Kingdom''''' is a [[subline imprint]] of the ''[[Transformers: Generations (toyline)|Generations]]'' toyline, and the final portion of the ''[[War for Cybertron Trilogy (franchise)|War for Cybertron Trilogy]]''.

First revealed at [[Hasbro PulseCon 2020]], ''War for Cybertron: Kingdom'' is a [[2021]] toyline in celebration of the 25th anniversary of ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|Beast Wars]]'' and the 35th anniversary of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''. As a direct continuation of ''[[War for Cybertron: Siege|Siege]]'' and ''[[War for Cybertron: Earthrise|Earthrise]]'', ''Kingdom'' carries over the [[C.O.M.B.A.T. System]], meaning most toys feature 3 mm and [[5 mm post]]s to accommodate the weapons and the effect parts from ''War for Cybertron Trilogy'' and other toylines. Due to the realistic animal modes, ''Beast Wars'' characters only employ the C.O.M.B.A.T. System in robot mode. Much like its predecessor, ''Kingdom'' has rereleases of toys from the previous subline, ''Earthrise''.

This toyline sees the addition of the "Core Class", a return to the Legends Class from the ''[[Prime Wars Trilogy]]'', replacing the [[Micromaster]]s and [[Battle Master]]s of previous lines. ''Kingdom'' also features the "Fossilizers", new skeletal characters amongst the Deluxe Class, replacing the Weaponizers and [[A.I.R. Lock System|Modulators]]. As part of the "[[F.O.S.S.I.L. Technology]]" (Fossilized Osteo-Skeletal Shield Integration Loadout), they can be taken apart to form armor or weapons compatible with the C.O.M.B.A.T. System. Unlike the previous toylines, the battle damage decoes are completely absent, and the robot mode [[scale]] falters due to the larger size of the ''Beast Wars'' characters and the smaller size of Generation 1 characters in the Core Class.

''Kingdom'' is complemented by 2021's ''[[Studio Series]]'' line-up, which saw toys inspired by ''The Transformers: The Movie'' added to that toyline for the first time. Notable characters from the film are split between the two toylines – for instance, [[Cyclonus (G1)/toys|Cyclonus]] appears in ''Kingdom'', whereas [[Scourge (G1)/toys|Scourge]] is a ''Studio Series'' release.

Befitting its eclectic mix of characters from different eras, the storytelling universe of ''Kingdom'' is based around time travel and paradoxes, and the fluid nature of the timeline is reflected in the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] cards. One card is included in every figure of Deluxe Class and upwards, and peeling its foil sticker face away reveals one of three possible destinies for a key character. A full list of Golden Disk destinies can be found [[Source:Golden Disk destinies|here]].

{{TOCclear}}
==Toys==

====Core Class====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-a1|WFC-K1 [[Optimus_Prime_(G1)/toys#War_for_Cybertron:_Kingdom|Optimus Prime]]}}
{{Bp-m1|WFC-K2 [[Rattrap (BW)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Rattrap]]}}
{{Bp-p1|WFC-K3 [[Vertebreak (Generations)#Generations|Vertebreak]]}}
</ul>
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 2'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-d1|WFC-K12 [[Starscream (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Starscream]]}}
{{Bp-d1|WFC-K13 [[Megatron (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Megatron]]}}
|[[File:WFC-Kingdom Core Rattrap.jpg|thumb|250px|Core Class Rattrap]]
|}

====Deluxe Class====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|WFC-K4 [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Generations|Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|WFC-K5 [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Generations|Blackarachnia]]}}
{{Bp-a1|WFC-K6 [[Warpath (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Warpath]]}}
{{Bp-p1|WFC-K7 [[Paleotrex#Generations|Paleotrex]] (Fossilizer)}}
</ul>
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 2'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|WFC-K14 [[Airazor (BW)#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Airazor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|WFC-K15 [[Ractonite#Generations|Ractonite]] (Fossilizer)}}
{{Bp-a1|WFC-K16 [[Huffer (G1)#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Huffer]]}}
{{Bp-a1|WFC-K17 [[Arcee (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Arcee]] (unchanged re-release of ''Earthrise'' Arcee)}}
</ul>
|[[File:WFC-Kingdom Deluxe Paleotrex.jpg|thumb|250px|Deluxe Fossilizer Paleotrex]]
|}

====Voyager Class====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|WFC-K8 [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Optimus Primal]]}}
{{Bp-d1|WFC-K9 [[Cyclonus (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Cyclonus]]}}
</ul>
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 2'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|WFC-K18 [[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Generations|Dinobot]]}}
{{Bp-a1|WFC-K19 [[Inferno (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Inferno]]}}
</ul>
|[[File:WFC-Kingdom Voyager Cyclonus.jpg|thumb|250px|Voyager Class Cyclonus]]
|}

====Leader Class====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|WFC-K10 [[Megatron (BW)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Megatron (Beast)]]}}
{{Bp-a1|WFC-K11 [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#K11|Optimus Prime]] (unchanged re-release of ''Earthrise'' Optimus Prime)}}
</ul>
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 2'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-a1|WFC-K20 [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Ultra Magnus]]}}
</ul>
|[[File:WFC-Kingdom Leader Megatron.jpg|thumb|250px|Leader Class Megatron]]
|}

====Commander Class====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-a1|WFC-K?? [[Hot Rod (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Rodimus Prime]]}}
</ul>
|}

==Exclusives==
====''Selects''====
Continuing on from ''Earthrise'', the special edition ''[[Generations Selects (toyline)|Generations Selects]]'' line offers redecos catering to fans, sold through online retailers in the US and Canada.
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Shared exclusives'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-a1|WFC-GS23 [[Deep Cover#Generations|Deep Cover]]}}
{{Bp-m1|WFC-GS25 [[Transmutate (BW)#Generations|Transmutate]]}}
</ul>
|[[File:Generations_select_Transmutate.jpg|thumb|250px|''Selects'' Deluxe Class Transmutate]]
|}
{{comingsoontoy|WFC-GS25}}

==''Kingdom'' (TakaraTomy)==
[[File:WFC Kingdom Logo.jpg|center|250px]]
TakaraTomy's ''Transformers Kingdom'' (トランスフォーマーキングダム) toyline sees the "brand unification" strategy from 2017 continue: the toys in TakaraTomy's version of the line are completely identical to their Hasbro counterparts.

===General retail===
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 1''' ([[March 27]], [[2021]])
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|KD-01 [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Optimus Primal]]}}
{{Bp-m1|KD-02 [[Rattrap (BW)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Rattrap]]}}
{{Bp-m1|KD-03 [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Cheetor]]}}
</ul>
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 2''' ([[April 24]], 2021)
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|KD-04 [[Megatron (BW)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Megatron (Beast)]]}}
{{Bp-p1|KD-05 [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Generations|Blackarachnia]]}}
</ul>
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 3''' ([[May 29]], 2021)
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-a1|KD-06 [[Warpath (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Warpath]]}}
{{Bp-d1|KD-07 [[Cyclonus (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Cyclonus]]}}
</ul>
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 4''' ([[June 20]], 2021)
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|KD-08 [[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Generations|Dinobot]]}}
{{Bp-m1|KD-09 [[Airazor (BW)#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Airazor]]}}
</ul>
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 5''' ([[July 20]], 2021)
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-a1|KD-10 [[Inferno (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Inferno]]}}
{{Bp-a1|KD-11 [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Ultra Magnus]]}}
</ul>
|}
{{comingsoontoy}}

===Exclusives===
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="30%" valign="top"|'''[[TakaraTomy Mall]]'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|KD EX-01 [[Paleotrex#Generations|Paleotrex]]}}
{{Bp-p1|KD EX-02 [[Vertebreak (Generations)#Generations|Vertebreak]]}}
{{Bp-a1|KD EX-03 [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Optimus Prime]]}}
{{Bp-p1|KD EX-04 [[Ractonite#Generations|Ractonite]]}}
{{Bp-a1|KD EX-05 [[Huffer (G1)#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Huffer]]}}
{{Bp-d1|KD EX-06 [[Megatron (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-d1|KD-EX-07 [[Starscream (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Starscream]]}}
</ul>
|}
{{comingsoontoy}}

==Notes==
[[File:PulseCon-Kingdom-promo-art.jpg|thumb|300px|"I have forged this toyline into a single, elegant machine. A vision of [[Geewun|GEEWUN]] purity. And you mongrels would dare contaminate that vision with your accursed Beast Wars!"]]
*In July 2020, Chapter 1 of the ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy (cartoon)|War for Cybertron Trilogy]]'' cartoon, ''Siege'', was promoted with several motion posters highlighting members of the main cast. In each of these posters, a letter from the [[Cybertronian language|"Ancient Autobot" alphabet]] created by [[Jim Sorenson]] can be seen flashing in the background. Putting the letters in the correct order officially revealed the name of the trilogy's final subline, "Kingdom".<ref>[https://twitter.com/nxonnetflix/status/1283960126613774338 Netflix video of all motion posters with the announcement of KINGDOM.]</ref>
*In August 2020, various photos of toys were leaked to the public, along with [[Walmart]] listings revealing much of the general retail toyline.
*''Kingdom'' toys of Deluxe Class and upwards utilize new packaging that minimizes plastic waste. Gone are the familiar inner trays, replaced by having the toys affixed to the cardboard insert inside, and the size of the window on the front of the packaging is reduced, showcasing less of the toy and increasing the size of the [[package art]].
*[[Hasbro PulseCon 2020]] revealed a poster for the line that shows off many of the characters who have toys in ''Kingdom''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Subline imprint]]
[[Category:Toylines]]
[[Category:War for Cybertron: Kingdom| ]]

The Transformers: The Movie

2020-09-30T14:45:10Z

OptimusPrime 13131: /* Featured characters */

{{disambig3|Transformers: The Movie}}
{{episode|
|seriess=[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]
|prev=B.O.T. (episode)
|next=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
|seriess2=[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (franchise)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers]]
|prev2=Scramble City: Mobilization
|next2=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
|title=''The Transformers: The Movie''
|image=Transformersanimatedfilmposter.jpg
|caption=A long time ago in a galaxy far far away....
|production code=4034
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|writer=[[Ron Friedman]]
|directed by=[[Nelson Shin]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|release date=[[August 8]], [[1986]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}
{{quote|Conceived in the epic tradition of ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''...|[[Victor Caroli]] ain't just whistling Dixie|[[The Transformers: The Movie promo|''The Transformers: The Movie'' promo]]}}

'''''The Transformers: The Movie''''' is an animated feature film based on the original ''Transformers'' toyline. It was released in the United States on Friday, August 8, 1986.

The film's storyline follows the same continuity as the ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|Transformers]]'' cartoon. It introduces a [[Scale|planet-sized Transformer]] called [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] who eats other planets, and is approaching [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. As part of their continuing wars, the [[Autobot]]s and [[Decepticon]]s have a [[Battle of Autobot City|fierce battle]] on [[Earth]] which sees both [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] mortally wounded. Prime passes the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] and dies, and Megatron is transformed by Unicron into [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (briefly) assumes leadership of the Decepticons, but is killed when Galvatron arrives at Cybertron. Galvatron then chases the surviving Autobots on Earth across space, splitting them up and taking the Matrix. The Autobots find their way back to each other, and follow Galvatron to Cybertron just as Unicron transforms into [[robot mode]] and begins to eat their world. Travelling inside Unicron, [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] recovers the Matrix, transforms into Rodimus Prime, and uses the Matrix to destroy Unicron.

Often referred to by fans simply as "the movie" or "TFTM", the movie was a step up in almost every area from the television series, with a more sophisticated plot, more serious treatment of war and violence, a hugely ambitious scope and a greatly increased animation budget with well-known celebrities providing voice work. For these reasons, the film remains very popular with children of the 1980s.

The film opens with characters who had been featured in the first two years of the toyline and associated media (cartoons, comic books, etc.), but quickly introduces new characters and kills many of the old ones to make room. Of particular note, Optimus Prime and Starscream are both destroyed during the course of the film.

{{quote|The Japanese have funded a full-length animated cartoon about the doings of these toys, which is all bad outer-space stuff. I play a planet. I menace somebody called Something-or-other. Then I'm destroyed. My plan to destroy Whoever-it-is is thwarted and I tear myself apart on the screen.|Orson Welles<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=KlqsYy512WIC&source=gbs_navlinks_s "Orson Welles: A Biography"] page 522</ref>}}

==Synopsis==
[[File:TFTM Unicron Lithone.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|That's no moon.]]
[[Unicron/Generation 1|A mechanical planet]] travels through the depths of space, attacking [[Lithone (planet)|a metal planet]] which has [[Lithone (species)|robotic inhabitants]]. Robots, vehicles, buildings, and even large chunks of rock are sucked off the surface and devoured by the monstrous planet.

It is the year [[2005]], and the [[Decepticon]]s are now in control of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. The [[Autobot]]s are preparing to launch an assault to retake the planet from hidden bases on two of Cybertron's moons. The Autobots launch a [[Autobot shuttle|shuttle]] to pick up a final shipment of [[energon]] from [[Earth]] before they strike.

[[File:Tftm1986a.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans. And bring me the passengers; I want them alive!]]
Plans for the attack are overheard by [[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]], who reports back to [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. The Decepticons attack the Autobot shuttle en route to Earth, wiping out its crew (including [[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]], [[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] and [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]]). Using the Autobots' own shuttle, the Decepticons are able to get very close to the Autobots' base on Earth, [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]], before they are detected, and begin a devastating surprise attack on the unprepared city.

During the battle at Autobot City, both [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and Megatron suffer mortal injuries, and a number of others are also killed. Eventually the Decepticons retreat, but the damage suffered by the Autobots is severe.

{{note|For an extensive synopsis of the battle, see [[Battle of Autobot City]].}}

[[File:Tftm1986b.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.]]
Shortly after the battle, Prime lies on his deathbed. He passes the reins of leadership to [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] and gives him the [[Matrix of Leadership]]. (Though [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] actually touches the Matrix before Magnus does.) Prime relates a prophecy: "One day, an Autobot shall rise from our ranks, and use the power of the Matrix to light our [[darkest hour]]." He then gives the oath, "[['Til all are one]]", and [[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|dies]]. This sequence of events is observed remotely by Unicron, the monstrous planet, who appears unusually concerned by the survival of the Matrix.

The Decepticons are making their escape aboard [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], but are too heavy for him to get them all home under his own power. After putting the matter to a fair vote, the Decepticons decide to throw their injured members off the ship to better the chance of survival for the rest, including the mortally wounded Megatron. Too injured to save himself, [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] tosses Megatron out into space and claims leadership of the Decepticon army.

{{note|For an extensive synopsis of the battle’s aftermath, see [[Unicron War]].}}

[[File:TFTM Starscream chucks Megatron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Into the garbage chute, flyboy.]]
Megatron and the other adrift Decepticons then encounter Unicron in interstellar space. Unicron offers to rebuild Megatron and his minions in exchange for their service. After some coercion on the planetoid's part, Megatron agrees, and is [[Reformatting|reformatted]] into [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. The other Decepticons are turned into [[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]], [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]], and the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]]. Unicron provides them with a [[Revenge (G1)|ship]], and sends them to kill Ultra Magnus and destroy the Matrix, stating that the Matrix is the only thing which can stand in his way.

[[File:Tftm1986c.jpg|upright=1.1|left|thumb|Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed.]]
Galvatron first stops at Cybertron to take his revenge by killing Starscream and reclaiming leadership of the Decepticons. Almost immediately afterwards, Unicron arrives in Cybertron's vicinity and devours at least two moons—both of the Autobots' moon bases are destroyed. Under coercion by Unicron, Galvatron finally heads to Earth to kill Ultra Magnus, but Magnus and the other surviving Autobots flee in a pair of shuttles. Eventually Galvatron manages to cause one shuttle to crash on yet another metal planet ([[Quintessa (planet)|Quintessa]]), and detonates the other with a volley of missiles. However, the Autobots in the second shuttle escape unnoticed by separating the front portion of their shuttle just before impact.

[[File:TFTM Quintesson Palace.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Mos Eisley spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.]]
The Autobots in the crashed shuttle, Hot Rod, [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]], and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]], find themselves separated and in a hostile environment. Hot Rod and Kup are captured by a squad of [[Allicon]]s and taken before a [[Quintesson]] [[Quintesson#Judges|judge]] and his court. While being held there, they learn the name and nature of Unicron from [[Kranix (G1)|Kranix]], a survivor of the planet destroyed in the opening of the film, which he calls [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]]. Meanwhile, the Dinobots encounter and befriend a young, wild Autobot named [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] who has been living alone on Quintessa. Together, they crash the trial just as Hot Rod and Kup are fighting losing odds against the Quintessons' [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticons]]. The tide is turned, and the Autobots commandeer a [[Quintesson Cruiser]].

[[File:Tftm1986d.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|What an incredible smell you've discovered!]]
The other group of Autobots has landed on the planet [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]] to make repairs, but are attacked yet again by Galvatron, who was tipped off to their survival by Unicron. During the battle, Ultra Magnus tries to open the Matrix to use its power, but is unable to do so, and instead is killed. Galvatron absconds with the Matrix, taking it away to Unicron. The remaining Autobots—[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]], [[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]], [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]]'s son [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]]—are then ambushed by [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]], the eponymous natives of Junkion, who are also giant transforming robots. This battle is cut short, however, by the arrival of Hot Rod's group in their Quintesson ship. After exchanging the [[universal greeting]] they all make friends, and the Junkions restore Ultra Magnus to life. Together, the whole group travels to Cybertron to try to recover the Matrix and destroy Unicron.

[[File:TFTM Unicron smashes cybertron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Rebel base in range. You may fire when ready.]]
Galvatron attempts to open the Matrix to use its power against Unicron and force his master into submission, but is unable to open it. Unicron, not pleased with this attempted treachery, shocks Galvatron by transforming from a planet into a [[Scale|planet-sized robot]]. Unicron plucks Galvatron off his chest and swallows him, Matrix and all, and then begins attacking Cybertron itself. [[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] scrambles the Decepticon forces to defend the planet, but they are ineffective against so large an enemy. Shortly the Autobots arrive from Junkion, and fly the Quintesson ship straight through Unicron's eye. This impact destroys the ship, and the Autobots fall out inside Unicron. Hot Rod, separated from the others, eventually runs into Galvatron. During their fight, Hot Rod gets his hands on the Matrix and hears Optimus's voice speak the words, "Arise, Rodimus Prime." Hot Rod grows in stature, adopts a much sterner demeanor, and quickly dispatches Galvatron by tossing him through Unicron's hull out into space. He then opens the Matrix, which fills Unicron with light and begins destroying him.

[[File:Tftm1986e.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Use the Force, Luke.]]
In the meantime, the other Autobots inside Unicron have located some of their comrades from the moon bases who had been presumed dead, including [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] and Daniel's father, Spike. The Autobots, including Rodimus, escape through Unicron's remaining eye just as he begins to fall apart and explode. The scene then immediately shifts to the surface of Cybertron, where—for unclear reasons—the Autobots seem to be in charge again. Rodimus predicts an era of peace and prosperity, and the film closes with a shot of Unicron's severed head still floating in orbit around Cybertron.

[['Til all are one]].
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] ([[Peter Cullen]])
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime]] ([[Judd Nelson]])
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] ([[Robert Stack]])
*[[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] ([[Lionel Stander]])
*[[Springer (G1)|Springer]] ([[Neil Ross]])
*[[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] ([[Susan Blu]])
*[[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] ([[John Moschitta]])
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] ([[Gregg Berger]])
*[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]] ([[Paul Eiding]])
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] ([[Buster Jones]])
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] ([[Michael Bell]])
*[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]]
*[[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] ([[Frank Welker]])
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (Peter Cullen)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (Michael Bell)<ref group="fc" name="crednolines">Credited and appeared, but had no speaking lines.</ref>
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] ([[Scatman Crothers]])
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] ([[Dan Gilvezan]])
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] ([[Casey Kasem]])
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] ([[Corey Burton]])
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] ([[Don Messick]])<ref group="fc" name="creduncertain">Credited, but may or may not have appeared through an animation error.</ref>
*[[Auto-combatant]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Eject (G1)|Eject]]
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]]
*[[Steeljaw (G1)|Steeljaw]]
*[[Ramhorn (G1)|Ramhorn]]
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]]
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]]
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]]
*[[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]]
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]]
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]]
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]]
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]]
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]]<ref group="fc" name="crednoapp">Credited, but did not appear.</ref> ([[Walker Edmiston]])
|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] ([[Leonard Nimoy]])
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] ([[Chris Latta]])
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]] ([[Roger C. Carmel]])
*[[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] ([[Stan Jones]])
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Devastator (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Devastator]] ([[Arthur Burghardt]])
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (Michael Bell)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (Don Messick)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]]
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]]
*[[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] ([[Hal Rayle]])
*[[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] ([[Clive Revill]])
*[[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]]
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] ([[Jack Angel]])
*[[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] (Corey Burton)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] ([[Bud Davis]])<ref group="fc" name="crednolines"/>
*[[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] ([[Ed Gilbert]])
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] (Chris Latta)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] (Frank Welker)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]]
*[[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]]
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]]
*[[Skywarp (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skywarp]]
*[[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]]
*[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]]
*[[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]]
*[[Cyclonus's Armada]]
|h3=[[Junkion (species)|Junkions]]|c3=
*[[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] ([[Eric Idle]])
*[[Scrapheap (G1)|Scrapheap]] (Bell and/or Welker)
*[[Rubbish]] (Bell and/or Welker)
*[[Re-Cycle]] (Bell and/or Welker)
*[[Trashbin]] (Bell and/or Welker)
*[[Junkyard (G1)|Junkyard]] (Bell and/or Welker)
*[[HAZMAT]] (Bell and/or Welker)
*[[Ashtray]] (Bell and/or Welker)
*[[Wasteoid Gamma]] (Bell and/or Welker)
*[[Greasestain]] (Bell and/or Welker)
|h4=Others|c4=
'''[[Human]]s'''
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (Corey Burton)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] ([[David Mendenhall]])

'''[[Lithone (species)|Lithones]]'''
*[[Kranix (G1)|Kranix]] ([[Norman Alden|Norm Alden]])
*[[Arblus]]

'''[[Quintesson]]s'''
*[[Quintesson]] leader (Roger C. Carmel)
*[[Quintesson#Judges|Quintesson judge]] ([[Regis Cordic]])
*[[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticons]]
*[[Allicon]]s

'''Other'''
*[[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] ([[Orson Welles]])
|nonumbering=true

|h5= Behind the Scenes|c5=
'''[[Sound Editors]]
*[[Allison Cobb]]

}}
<references group="fc"/>

==Quotes==
[[File:TFTM European intro.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.4|It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy....]]
"Now all we need is a little energon and a lot of luck." 
"More than you imagine, Optimus Prime."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Megatron''' tempt fate.

"Such heroic nonsense."
:—'''Megatron''' coldly finishes off Ironhide. The 'Cons always get the best lines.

"First, we crack the shell... then we crack the nuts inside."
:—'''Rumble''' bravely raids Autobot City.

"I've got better things to do tonight than die!"
:—'''Springer''', telling it like it is.

"One shall stand. One shall fall."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' uttering the most quoted line of the Movie. An ass kicker cometh.

"Why throw your life away so recklessly?" 
"That's a question you should ask yourself, Megatron." 
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Optimus Prime''', about to engage in one last battle to the death.

"You, who are without mercy, now plead for it? I thought you were made of '''''sterner stuff'''''."
:—'''Optimus Prime''''s trash talk is actually [http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/sterner-stuff a lot cooler than it sounds].

"I would have waited an eternity for this! It's over, Prime." 
"'''''NEVER!'''''"
:—'''Megatron''' is about to learn that a wounded '''Optimus Prime''' has enough strength left for one good hit.

"Until that day...'til all are one..."
:—'''Optimus Prime''''s final words.

"Oh, how it ''pains'' me to do this." 
"Wait! I still function!" 
"Wanna ''bet''?"
:—'''Starscream''' fights back the tears as he throws '''Megatron''' out of Astrotrain.

"Soundwave superior, Constructicons inferior."
:—'''Soundwave''' insults the combiner team.

"I have summoned you here for a purpose." 
"Nobody summons Megatron!" 
"Then it pleases me to be the first."
:—'''Unicron''' shows '''Megatron''' who's the boss.

"Who disrupts my coronation?" 
"Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy." 
"Megatron? Is that you?" 
"Here's a hint!"
:—'''Galvatron''' drops "hints" for '''Starscream''' like others drop anvils.

"What did he say his name was?" 
"Galvatron!" 
"Long live Galvatron! Galvatron!"
:—'''Rumble''' clamors for '''Galvatron''' and the cronies follow suit.

"Oh shit! What are we gonna do now!"
:—'''Spike''' says the movie’s most infamous line.

"Did we ''have'' to let them detonate three quarters of the ship?" 
"Seeing as how they would have detonated ''four'' quarters, I think it was a good choice."
:—'''Arcee''' and '''Springer''', debating the launch of their emergency shuttle.

"Spare me this mockery of justice!"
:—'''Kranix''' is upset at being found innocent.

"You check in, but you don't check out."
:—'''Wreck-Gar''' making a reference to the tagline from the "Roach Motel." commercials

"For a time... I considered ''sparing'' your wretched little planet Cybertron. But now... you shall witness... its ''dismemberment''!"
:—'''Unicron''' really needs to work on his anger management skills...

"Destiny... You cannot... destroy... my... destiny!"
:—'''Unicron''''s final words.

"Let this mark the end of the Cybertronian Wars as we march forward into a new era of peace and happiness! 'Til all are one!" 
:—'''Rodimus Prime''' announces the end of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]...yeah, right.

==Season 5==
When ''The Movie'' was broadcast in [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season]] of ''The Transformers'', it was broken into 5 parts (designated "Days") and given new bookending segments with original story material.

===Day One===
[[File:TommyPrimeSeason5BumperMovie.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems.]]
[[Tommy Kennedy|Tommy]] meets up with [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] in the barren wasteland and Prime is concerned with the black eye and many bruises Tommy is sporting. Tommy explains that some "big guys" at school tried to rough him up (and by all visual evidence, succeeded). Tommy asks Prime if he'd ever faced any "big guys" in his many adventures and Prime decides to tell him about the time he faced the "biggest guy" of them all, [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]...

Optimus leaves off at the point during the [[Battle of Autobot City]] when Megatron broke their defenses to let the slaughter begin. Optimus gruesomely teases his own death scene to a very confused and concerned Tommy, but reassures him that until he can be revived as a Powermaster, the Matrix must be passed on to someone else who is worthy. Tommy wants to hear all about it, but Optimus doesn't have the time. Apparently, he needs to meet up with [[Joyride (G1)|Joyride]] and help him [[Space bridge technician|repair]] the [[Space bridge]]. Tommy asks if he can tag along and Optimus tells him that if he can lift one of their two-ton screwdrivers, he can even help. They summarily blast off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Two===
[[File:PrimeExplodingMemoryChip.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|I've lost R2!]]
Tommy and Optimus meet up in the barren wasteland, though Prime isn't sure what Tommy wants. Tommy reminds him that he promised to tell him more about Unicron and Prime concedes that he's been having trouble with his memory chip, lately. Tommy tells him all about the Battle of Autobot City, but none if it rings a bell for Optimus. Prime asks Tommy to open up an access panel in the back of his head and check the circuit. Tommy repairs the circuit, jogging Prime's memory...

Prime leaves off at the point where [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] are eaten by Unicron. Tommy demands to hear more of the story, but Prime's memory chip explodes and smoke pours from the side of his head. All he sees are brief flashes of the further adventures of [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] and the rest. The furthest he can see, though, is the "death" of [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] when his shuttle is blown up by [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. Tommy expresses discontent, citing that the Autobots are "too cool to die". Prime says he knows there's more to the story, but with his faulty memory chip, he can't access the details. Tommy insists they get his chip fixed and so they blast off into space to do just that.
{{-}}

===Day Three===
[[File:TommyKennedyTraumatized.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?]]
Tommy finishes the repairs on Prime's memory chip, much to Prime's relief. Tommy asks Prime to test it out by continuing his story about the battle against Unicron. Prime indulges Tommy's request...

Prime leaves off at the point where [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] and Hot Rod are taken to the [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticon]] pits and watch as the survivors of [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]] are executed. Tommy begs Prime to stop, claiming that the story thus far is too intense and depressing for him to handle. Prime asks if he wants to hear about how Kup and Hot Rod are fed to the Sharkticons, how the Autobots are menaced by "aliens made of junk" or how Ultra Magnus is blown to pieces by [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. Tommy suddenly changes his mind and demands to hear all the gory, macabre details. Prime sets Tommy back down in the barren wasteland and promises to return soon to transform his day into an adventure. He then blasts off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Four===
[[File:PrimeTommyStopMotion.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet it's farthest from.]]
Tommy and Optimus meet up once again in the barren wasteland. Tommy asks why Prime is so late for their appointment and Prime confesses that [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] took a wrong turn on the way over. Prime wishes he hadn't let the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]] fly the shuttle. Tommy asks if Prime has enough time to tell him more of the story and Prime assures him there's time enough...

Prime leaves off at the point where the Autobots team up with the [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]s to battle Unicron. Tommy is incredulous, wondering what a bunch of aliens made of junk could possibly contribute to the battle against Unicron. Prime informs him that great adversities often bring out the best in people, citing Hot Rod as an example. Tommy begs to hear how the story ends, but Prime says that he must first take Grimlock to have his "brain circuits" upgraded. Setting Tommy down, Prime promises to be back soon to transform his day into an adventure. Then he blasts off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Five===
[[File:StanBushTheTouchMusicVideoRecordLabelNotes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|He made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you.]]
Meeting again in the barren wasteland, Optimus asks Tommy if he's ready to hear the end of the story. Contrary to all the enthusiasm Tommy has shown during past storytimes, the human child laments that he's forgotten most of the tale thus far (offering the flimsy excuse that his lack of an electronic brain makes remembering so many details impossible). Prime gives him "a quick rundown" (that takes ''four minutes'') and then proceeds to finish the epic yarn...

Prime finishes the story with the destruction of Unicron, the ascension of Rodimus Prime and the exile of the Decepticons. Prime asks Tommy if he's satisfied, but Tommy just has more questions. Like what was up with the [[Quintesson]]s? Did they drop Grimlock on his head when he was a kid? And how did they ever bring Prime back to life? Prime tells Tommy to slow down. He has to attend an interstellar peace conference, but until he returns, he leaves Tommy with... [[The Touch|THE TOUCH!!!]]
{{-}}

==Production timeline==
* First script outline by Ron Friedman: revisions from 15th August 1984 to 19th September 1984
* First draft script by Ron Friedman: submitted November 12th 1984. Revised February 13th 1985.
* Reference photos of Powered Convoy toy designated as Ultra Magnus, provided to Ron Friedman: Taken 18th March 1985
* Second script outline by Ron Friedman: revised 28th March 1985
* Second draft script by Ron Friedman: completed 27th April 1985. Revised 2nd May 1985
* Model sheets approved 14th June 1985: Cyclonus, Galvatron (Marvel model with revised head), Hot Rod, Kranix (the pre-final model, can be seen with Granix name on it), Quintesson Judge (colour approved on 18th November 1985 by J. Bacal), Rodimus Prime, Scourge/Sweep, Sharkticon, Unicron robot mode, Wheelie, Wreck-gar
* Model sheets approved 24th June 1985: Ultra Magnus robot mode(first Powered Convoy version)
* Model sheets approved 2nd July 1985: Ultra Magnus (Initial Toei design. Colour revised on 20th July 1985)
* Model sheets approved 19th July 1985: Arblus robot mode, Spike (final model), Ultra Magnus vehicle mode(first Powered Convoy version)
* Model sheets approved 29th July 1985: Quintesson Prosecutor (a.k.a Quintesson leader. Approved by J. Bacal on 18th December 1985)
* Model sheets approved 31st July 1985: Arblus spaceship mode
* Model sheets approved 6th September 1985: Rewind flip side of the cassette mode
* Model sheets approved 3rd October 1985: Rewind and Eject
* Model sheets approved 8th October 1985: Lithonian Scientist, Lithonian Woman no.1

* Storyboard sequence 1 (Attack on Lithone): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 2 (Title sequence): Final 31st December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 3 (2005): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 4 (More Than You Imagine): Final 31st October 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985.
* Storyboard sequence 5 (Attack On The Shuttle): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 6 (Gone Fishin'/Dare): Final 4th November 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 7 (Battle Of Autobot City, part 1): Final 14th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 8 (Battle Of Autobot City, part 2): Final 31st October 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 9 (Death Of Optimus Prime): Final 7th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 10 (Witness To A Funeral): Final 7th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 11 (Contest For Leadership): Final 4th November 1985. Revised Final 13th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 12 (Transformation): Final 11th November 1985. Revised Final 26th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 13 (Coronation): Final 10th December 1985. Revised Final 18th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 14 (Destruction Of Moonbase One): Final 10th December 1985. Revised Final 19th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 15 (Escape): Final 16th December 1985. Revised Final 24th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 16 (Pursuit): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 17 (Nothin's Gonna Stand In Our Way): Final 11th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 18 (Arrival On Junk): Final 12th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 19 (Unwelcome Visitors): Final November 14th 1985. Revised Final 27th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 20 (The Matrix Survives): Final 12th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 21 (An Unexpected Friend): Final 18th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 22 (Destruction Of Moonbase Two): Final 17th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 23 (Ambush): Final 11th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 24 (Judgement/Rescue): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 25 (Another Leader Dies): Final 9th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 26 (Unusual Allies): Final 19th December 1985. Revised Final 31st December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 27 (The Enemy Revealed): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 28 (Confrontation): Final 19th November 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 29 (United Against The Enemy): Final 20th November 1985. Revised 4th December 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 30 (In The Belly Of The Monster): Final 20th November 1985. Revised 3rd December 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 31 (Their Darkest Hour): Final 2nd December 1985. Revised 19th December 1985. Revised Final 31st December 1985

==Animation errors==
[[File:TFTM Unicron Small.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We’re doomed.]]
*When Unicron is approaching Lithone at the start of the movie, at the line "Look, it's Unicron!", a [[Animation error#Sizing errors|cel stacking error]] results in Unicron's ring appearing in front of a building arch, [[Distribution|making Unicron look very tiny]] in that shot. In the next shot, it is clear that Unicron is several times larger than the entire planet of Lithone.
*The inside of one of the Lithonian ships being devoured by Unicron is visible for a couple of frames. The pilot of the ship appears to be Kranix, even though he apparently screams out Kranix's name, and Kranix appears later in the Quintesson prison.
*When Optimus Prime asks Jazz to report security status, it shows both Jazz and Cliffjumper. Cliffjumper is seen twiddling knobs above the actual drawn computer, as if a section was supposed to be present.
*Coloring errors:
**When the closeup of Cliffjumper doing his countdown is shown, his shoulders are blue (like his windows) instead of red.
**Scavenger's head is white instead of black as he ducks from Prowl's shot aboard the shuttle.
**Blaster's forehead is red instead of white after his "look out and shout!" line, and again after he returns to [[robot mode]].
**In the big lineup of firing Decepticons in Autobot City, Soundwave's cheek guards are blue instead of white.
**When Blaster asks Perceptor "What's shakin'?", a Dirge-colored Seeker flies by the window. However, it appears to be the standard Starscream/Thundercracker/Skywarp design, instead of having Dirge's unique wings.
**As Devastator lays into the walls, Shrapnel is white where he should be black.
**Megatron's pelvis is white instead of black as he gives the "let the slaughter begin!" order.
**When the Dinobots jump out of Optimus Prime's Shuttle, the shuttle is colored like the first shuttle, which Megatron boarded, instead of red-highlighted scheme of Prime's shuttle.
**When Prime says "No matter the cost", the shuttle is painted completely orange, when the front should have red and white highlights.
**When Prime drives up behind the Decepticons, Blitzwing's helmet is purple instead of yellow. Prime's trailer is missing its Autobot symbol as well.
**The gun Megatron uses to fatally injure Optimus is blue and white for most of the shots it is seen in, but when Megatron screams "Fall! FALL!" while shooting Prime again, it is black.
**Prime's antennae are white as he tries to stand after knocking Megatron off the ledge.
**Starscream's whole nosecone, rather than just the canopy, is yellow as he looms over the fallen Megatron.
**As Starscream prepares to toss Megatron out the door, Soundwave's eyes are painted white like his mask rather than red. (Maybe he was sleeping, his excuse for not stopping Starsceam)
**Starscream's cockpit shell nearest his head is colored like a canopy rather than gray, as he nominates himself for leadership. Man, even the A-list animation team couldn't keep this straight.
**When dragging Arcee into the shuttle and two shots later when flying into space Magnus's Shuttle has Blue highlights instead of Red.
**After Springer runs past him, Perceptor's gun changes from red to white for a few frames.
**When Cyclonus is strafing what appears via editing to be Hot Rod's shuttle, it has red highlights instead of blue.
**When Hot Rod's ship is being watched by Galvatron trailing smoke it has red highlights instead of blue.
**In the shot after Magnus announces that he cannot deal with that now, his ship has blue highlights instead of red.
**Shrapnel's lower legs are white when he lands on Junk, instead of black. Must be a side effect of being dead.
**When Hot Rod tells the Junkions the universal greeting, the Autobot insignia on his chest is colored black.
**After transforming, Unicron has all-white hands (instead of white with gold knuckles) and a white, rectangular chin (instead of the double-triangular chin with a goatee) he has later.
**As the Autobots fly through space after exiting Unicron's eye, Rodimus is painted in Ultra Magnus' colors (inverted).
*When the Decepticons blow a hole through the Autobot shuttle to get in, it is a clean break. However, Megatron is still shown ripping through random ship components to get in.
*When the Decepticons are killing the Autobot shuttle crew, there is one of the common Starscream/Skywarp/Thundercracker miscolors. Megatron transforms into gun mode and Starscream catches him, killing Brawn. When they cut back to the Decepticons, Starscream is in front of the Constructicons without Megatron and is firing one of his arm rifles (this was probably meant to be Skywarp, as he flies into the shuttle and takes a seat at the controls once the Autobots are defeated). When they cut back to the Decepticons for the third time, Starscream has Megatron again and is finishing off the rest of the Autobots. In the shot of Starscream firing his own lasers, his wings are red instead of gray.
*Per his standard cartoon appearance, Ratchet should have a [[Red Cross]] symbol on each shoulder. When he turns in his seat as Brawn is shot down, we can see one on his right shoulder, but when he stands to return fire on the Decepticons, the right shoulder's cross has vanished, and he's only got one on his left shoulder. Then, when he falls, the cross is missing from ''both'' shoulders.
*When the Decepticons fly to the shuttle's controls:
**All of the Autobots have changed positions from when they fell—Brawn is now on his back, for example, while Prowl is now face-down.
**Ironhide's chest is completely intact, despite having a bunch of holes blown in it.
**Prowl, who turned gray as he fell (evidently dead before he even hit the floor) seems to be back in his normal colors.
*The reflections of Hot Rod and Daniel in the lake rarely line up with where they should be.
*When Hot Rod catches a fish, it is barely the size of his finger. When he releases it, it's [[Scale|suddenly huge]].
*Hot Rod has at least two totally different transformation schemes during the course of the film.
*When Kup and several Autobots at the roadblock react to Hot Rod's attack on the hijacked Autobot shuttle, Bluestreak is represented by Prowl's [[Character model|animation model]], in Bluestreak's gray and black colors.
*Sunstreaker appears with Kup's group on Earth as they observe Hot Rod firing on Ironhide's shuttle. Sunstreaker later appears as Optimus Prime's co-pilot when they arrive on Earth with the Dinobots, and is seen disembarking the shuttle along with Optimus Prime and Hound.
[[File:ShockwaveBattleAutobotcity.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We've picked up a new group of signals... enemy fighters heading your way.]]
*In a wide aerial shot of the city under attack, a Reflector flies by in Ironhide's color scheme. Shockwave also makes his only appearance in the battle; considering both his role as Cybertron's guardian and his absence from any other scenes during the battle, his presence is probably an animation error. Rumble also flies past, despite being inside Soundwave at this point.
*A laser blast that should be behind Blaster is instead layered in front of him as he acknowledges Perceptor's orders.
[[File:TFTMRumbleFrenzytwored.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[FIRRIB|What]] about that [[R2-D2|blue one]]? We'll take that one.]]
*When [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] sends out his cassette troops, [[FIRRIB|Rumble is the same color as Frenzy]].
*Blaster first ejects what looks like Eject, who stays blue up until he gets to the edge of the screen. He then turns black like Rewind. Then Blaster ejects another blue cassette, which after about a second turns black. This one gets through half his transformation colored black, then turns blue for a split second then turns black again. Then, when the cassettes are fighting each other, Eject runs in from the left and jumps over Perceptor. And then he runs in from the left ''again'' to shoot Ravage.
*As Springer runs up to the launcher, Wheeljack's body is visible, but he's in the red, white and blue color scheme of Smokescreen - who, in the storyboards of this sequence, was intended to be the one lying there dead.
*While Springer and Arcee are trying to move the launcher into place, Springer's face is the same color as his helmet.
*During Devastator's combination sequence in Autobot City, his chest plate, portions of his pelvis, his forearms, and Bonecrusher's treads are all green. The chestplate and pelvis should be purple, as should Bonecrusher's treads (they're ''normally'' green when Bonecrusher is separate, but they turn purple when he combines), and his forearms should be black.
*For almost the entirety of his screen time during the battle in Autobot City, the "jet engine" on top of Devastator's chest plate is misinterpreted as a trapezoidal block. The only time it appears in its proper shape is when he high-kicks Grimlock. It appears as it should during the scuffle on Astrotrain.
*While Perceptor and Grapple are shooting, Swoop's lower half runs by in the foreground, long before the rest of him gets there.
*Prime's dramatic transformation sequence far outlasts the transformation sound that's supposed to go with it. It's also the wrong sound (ascending pitch) for his robot-to-vehicle transformation. His trailer is also missing the Autobot logo, which reappears for the rest of the scene.
*Prime is missing the transformation sound as he blasts back to robot mode.
*The gun Megatron fires uses the same sound effect as his fusion cannon.
*When Optimus Prime takes the Matrix out of his chest to give to Ultra Magnus, the animators forgot to remove the cel of the Matrix inside his chest, as it's still in there even as he's holding it in his hands. Since it's not supposed to be there, the luminous effect for the Matrix's core is missing from the duplicate in his chest, creating a visual trick that makes it look like Optimus might just have removed the core itself. (The [[Matrix of Leadership#Universe|''Universe'' comic]] would later use this error as a springboard to reconcile the visuals of Optimus's chest interior with their depiction in ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''.)
*When Ultra Magnus accepts the Matrix, he's seen inserting it into his chest twice, or at best readjusting its "fit".
*As the other Decepticons prepare to push him out, Bombshell's chest is rendered as a shapeless gray mass, rather than with its yellow canopy.
*The voice that says, "Brothers! Don't!" is nowhere close to the voices of any of the five Decepticons shown getting thrown out of Astrotrain.
*When Megatron says "Nobody summons Megatron" his chest emblem is colored gray like his chest. It looks like it should have been painted as a darker shade of purple, as it's the shadowed section. But was painted gray instead.
[[File:TFTMStarscreamCoronationErrors.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4| *''trumpet fanfare''*]]
*Even after the [[Battle of Autobot City]], characters who are supposedly dead continue to appear in crowd shots and battles. Shrapnel's role in the fight on [[Junkion (planet)|Junk]] is the most noticeable (and he was called for by name in the original script), but Thundercracker, Skywarp and Kickback can all be seen at Starscream's coronation. The two jets are later seen again, flying into Unicron's mouth.
*In the establishing shot of Starscream's coronation, there are only five Constructicons (Bonecrusher had better things to do tonight) and they are miscolored as purple and white rather than their usual purple and green color scheme.
*Hook has two eyes instead of his normal visor as he looks around in confusion during the trumpet scene.
*An early establishing shot clearly shows Cybertron with two and ''only'' two moons in low orbit. Yet a third moon is visible right after Unicron finishes eating the two Autobot bases.
*When Galvatron introduces himself to the Coronation party, Soundwave's chest window is drawn far too small.
*When Galvatron says "Decepticons, to Earth!", aside from his mouth being partially open, his mouth doesn't move. I guess being reformatted by Unicron gives you the ability to talk without moving your mouth?
*In the scene where Bumblebee and Spike are in the [[Autobot frigate]] and escaping Moonbase Two's destruction, when the two are cheering after believing that Unicron has been destroyed, Bumblebee's on the left side of Spike's seat. However, after Spike expresses his "colorful" reaction to Unicron remaining completely unscathed, and when the frigate is about to get sucked into Unicron, Bumblebee is on the right side of Spike's seat.
*When Cyclonus is strafing the Autobot shuttle in space, he briefly flies offscreen, and during that time his laser blasts come from a point that in no way matches his flight path.
*During the wide shot of the Autobots in the crashed ship on Junk, Blurr's entire head is white. Also so is Daniels head, which is drawn as an indistinct incomplete circle.
*Daniel's lips don't purse when he whistles.
*Wreck-Gar's mouth doesn't move at all during his first lines, despite the camera pushing in all close on his face.
*The pistol Ultra Magnus fires uses the same sound effect as Optimus Prime's rifle.
*During the Junkion chase scene, Trashbin attacks Arcee. When she fights him off his motorcycle, his model is switched for Junkyard's when he falls down. And his head then flickers between colors when mounting Junkyard.
*When Grimlock gets kissed, his eyes are round instead of triangular.(Probably intentional expression)
*As Hot Rod falls off one of Unicron's inner spikes, his lower body isn't drawn in. It looks like it should be blocked by our view of the spike, but is layered above it instead.
*Hot Rod's missing his Autobot symbol as he regains his footing inside Unicron.
*As the Dinobots fly around Unicron, both his eyes are intact. (The left one had at this point been shattered.)
*The third smelting victim (who looks a lot like another Bumblebee) doesn't fall from the conveyor belt; he simply vanishes.

== Continuity errors ==
[[File:G1TFTM Snarl cameo.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|He used to bulls-eye womp-rats in his T16 back home.]]

*The Dinobot [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] is mysteriously absent from almost the entire movie, even though the Dinobots as a group are featured prominently. Copies of the script which have come into fans' hands repeatedly list the Dinobots, but never make mention of Snarl by name. In fact, at one point the script refers to "the four Dinobots". Despite this, Snarl does appear in three very brief shots—in which at least one other Dinobot (Swoop in one, Sludge in another) is entirely absent. Hmm.
** On the other hand, the original production ''storyboards'' for the scene where Snarl first appears in the movie only mentions "the Dinobots", not a specific amount of them. Additionally, Snarl also seems to have been in the scene with Kup telling the Dinobots a story in at least ''one'' version of the film; the Japanese trailer for the movie has finished footage of this scene...but it's very different from the one in the film; the Dinobots are all in their robot modes, and Snarl is present in the scene instead of Slag. It's completely unknown why Snarl's appearance in this scene was cut.
*Also curiously absent are the 1985 Autobot cars and Mini-Vehicles, such as Inferno, Smokescreen, Cosmos, Warpath, etc. It would seem that these characters were available at the time of the movie:
**Perceptor and Blaster both debuted at the same time in the cartoon as the 1985 cars, and both play prominent roles in the movie.
**Grapple is [[:File:BattleAutobotCity.jpg|seen ''very'' briefly]] during the battle for Autobot City. Or maybe it's [[Hauler]].
**The 1985 Decepticons (Astrotrain, Dirge, etc.) appear in the film.
**[[:File:TFTM-SideswipeRedAlertTracks.jpg|Tracks]], [[:File:TFTM-RedAlertDown.jpg|Red Alert]] and Smokescreen (who was supposed to be the corpse in place of Wheeljack next to Windcharger) all appeared in storyboards but not the finished film.
*Devastator is treated as ''the'' ultimate threat, while in the cartoon, his role (and apparent power) was already being [[Starscream's Brigade|severely diminished]], presumably because several other combiners had been introduced. In story terms, the absence of these newer combiners, not to mention the mighty Omega Supreme, is inexplicable. In real-life terms, those characters didn't exist when the film commenced production. (The ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' adaptation shows Omega Supreme, Superion and Defensor guarding the Ark against an attack by Bruticus and Menasor, attempting to [[retcon]] the problem away.)
*Possibly the biggest example of the film's tonal shift from the cartoon, shots from firearms that would previously knock another character down at best have since become lethal, best demonstrated when Brawn and Prowl are each killed with a single shot by the Decepticons during the movie's first act.
**While Prowl, Ironhide and Ratchet are shot straight through the torso, Brawn is killed by a single shot to his shoulder, which makes little sense.
[[File:Cyclonus armada tftf.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We'll be safe enough once we make the jump into lightspeed.]]
*The existence of Cybertron's moons is contentious ''at best''.
**On the one hand, in numerous close and distant shots of the planet throughout the first two seasons, not a single moon was seen. Ever. Even after it got knocked out of Earth's orbit.
**On the other hand, Megatron ''does'' refer to Cybertron as "land of the metal moon" (note the singular) during "[[Microbots]]", suggesting otherwise. The fact that he was overenergized at the time and lost consciousness in mid-sentence - just before he ''might'' have specified a plural number of moons, (in)conveniently enough - makes it unclear just how much credence we should lend this statement.
**The movie promptly introduces two (possibly three) moons over the planet. In continuity terms, they must either have highly elliptical orbits with periapsides (points in their orbits that bring them closest to the planet) that just happened to coincide with the timeframe of the movie or they were constructed sometime after 1986.
*During the Battle of Autobot City, Starscream gets his leg caught. He shoots downward and gets away while screaming "My foot!", but it's his shin that's smoking while his foot looks fine. Later he kicks Megatron with the same foot. Shouldn't that hurt, according to him?
*So Ultra Magnus just happens to have a ready-made Matrix chamber installed in his chest cavity? Is this standard issue for all Autobots?
*The cartoon had already established that Astrotrain increases his size when he transforms to shuttle mode, being large enough to carry a pair of Decepticons in his cockpit. However, within the movie itself, his size is [[scale|noticeably inconsistent]]: When he leaves Autobot City, he's just large enough for the Decepticon army to cram themselves in; later, he's so huge that the Constructicons can quite comfortably form Devastator inside him.
*Speaking of Astrotrain, his entire body flips over when he transforms from train to space shuttle to escape from Autobot City. While ''we'' applaud the [[Show-accuracy|toy-accuracy]], the Decepticons inside probably didn't.
*Soundwave is loyal enough to pick up a wounded Megatron and save him, but when Starscream goes to throw Megatron out, Soundwave doesn't try to intervene. He even tries to steal the leadership once Megatron is gone. The "loyalty" attribute that has pertained so strongly to Soundwave seems to be alienated from the character in this scene.
*The number of minions created by Unicron changes throughout the film, with more Sweeps appearing as the story progresses. A second Cyclonus ("Cyclonus, the warrior, and [[Cyclonus's Armada|his armada]]") is shown being created but disappears shortly thereafter. At least ''seven'' new characters are shown at one point, created from only ''six'' Decepticons thrown from the shuttle.
*How can the Constructicons blow on those trumpets? Only [[Hook (G1)|three]] [[Bonecrusher (G1)|of]] [[Mixmaster (G1)|them]] have mouths.
[[File:SSBQ.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"I've been looking forward to this for a long time." "Yes, I bet you have."]]
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] is capable of reducing [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] to ashes with a single shot from his cannon mode. Though in later episodes Galvatron is shown blowing up even small ''[[Thrull|planets]]'' and being able to take down [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] with one shot from his cannon, his extraordinary killing power seems to be gone—like when he scores a direct hit in cannon mode on Ultra Magnus in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]" and Magnus isn't especially hurt at all, or how a similar blast against Scourge in "[[The Burden Hardest to Bear]]" only leaves the latter temporarily incapacitated. [[Marvel Comics]] bios explain this by suggesting that Galvatron had nearly limitless power through Unicron... but then again, Galvatron himself claims to be "more powerful than ever" after Unicron is dead in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2]]". [[To sell toys|Who knows.]]
*Why didn't the Autobots notice Unicron until he was within devouring distance of Cybertron's moons? Why doesn't Shockwave, who is ''on Cybertron,'' react until after Unicron has eaten these moons, transformed into a giant robot, and ''smashed his hand into the planet's surface?''
*Despite running out of energon goodies on Quintessa, Hot Rod has at least one to offer to the Junkions.
*How did Hot Rod and Kup know to fly from Quintessa to Junk?
[[File:TFTMStarscreamVsUnicron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|This is either Starscream or his stunt double; hard to tell.]]
*When the Decepticons on Cybertron launch a counterattack on Unicron, all three of the first-year Seekers are seen fighting alongside the Coneheads. Given that all three were either explicitly killed earlier in the movie (Starscream) or have been turned into Galvatron's troops by this point (Thundercracker and Skywarp), they're obviously not supposed to be ''around'' in these forms anymore; of course, they could also just be [[generic]]s reusing their colors...but, as noted above, Thundercracker and Skywarp ''also'' appear at Starscream's coronation.
*Daniel, who was just learning how to use his exo-suit, had to knock down the acid cover inside Unicron to save his loved ones. Why couldn't the more experienced Spike do the same with his suit from above? He had both of his arms free and a clear shot at the cover.
*It's not clear how Rodimus Prime (carrying two humans) and the other Autobots survived their jump out of Unicron's eye and their plunge towards the surface of Cybertron.
*It's also unclear just how the dozen or so Autobots (and one shipload of Junkions) managed to retake the whole planet of Cybertron. Did Unicron really wipe out ''that'' many Decepticons?
* Unicron's invincibility is extremely inconsistent; Moments before becoming Galvatron, Megatron creates visible damage to Unicron's horns simply by attempting to hold into something. Later, he doesn't suffer even a dent when one of Cybertron's moons is detonated in his mouth. Near the end, the Dinobots are capable of punching their way through his "skin", and Rodimus Prime just casually throws Galvatron into space through Unicron's side. Even without the Matrix, the small group of Autobots did pretty well against him.

===Not necessarily errors===
*Fans have noted throughout the years that Astrotrain, in his flight through zero-gravity space, should not have needed to "jettison some weight" in the literal sense. However, since the ejected Decepticons quickly fall behind Astrotrain instead of floating alongside him, he must still have been accelerating and thus would have needed to burn a greater amount of fuel in order to push a larger payload. Perhaps he should have said "jettison some ''mass''", but then again, just being a spaceship doesn't make him a rocket scientist.
*The Dinobots spend the majority of the film in their dinosaur modes, a practice that would eventually carry into season 3 of the cartoon. Swoop is the only one to spend extended amounts of time in robot mode, due to the anatomical issues of walking in a flight-based mode. However, there are some instances where they're briefly shown in robot mode for blink-and-you-miss-it moments, for no reason whatsoever.

==Continuity notes==
*The Movie has had a huge effect in shaping the mythos. Among the elements and characters which would reappear in many other iterations of Transformers are:
**The notion that Cybertron has moons
**The Matrix as a physical object, rather than the computer program previously depicted in the Marvel Comics. Even the Marvel Comics would eventually shoehorn this one in.
**Autobot City
**Unicron
**The notion of Megatron becoming Galvatron
**The idea of "Prime" being a rank rather than simply a given name.
**And it killed off Optimus Prime before it was cool!
*Cybertron's appearance in the post-titles establishing shot shows some major changes to the planet since our last look at it in Season 2. Many of the same buildings from the cartoon's stock image of the planet are there, but the giant pit near the planet's equator is mostly covered over, and the shredded portion of its southern hemisphere has been completely rebuilt.
*Gadgets and powers:
**Springer deploys a small flip-out twin laser from his wrist during the Autobot City battle.
**Arcee and Hot Rod both activate a long-distance scanner of some sort by lowering a red visor from under their helmets over their eyes.
**Hot Rod uses a saw blade that extends from his retracted wrist.
**Blurr has the same kind of hooked welding tip used by various Autobots as far back as "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 2]]".
**Arcee unleashes a nasty barbed post from her fender to fend off a Junkion.
**Grimlock shows the never-before seen ability to [[GoBots|shoot lasers from his fists]].
*'''[[The Revenge of Bruticus|< <]]''' What makes Starscream the leader? Megatron's <s>dead</s> almost dead!

==Real-world references and Easter eggs==
[[File:TFTMUnicronSkyscrapers.jpg|thumb|I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.]]
*When the inside of Unicron is shown after he devours Lithone, the "blinking energy" effect of Unicron's innards shows, for a split second, what appear to be several images of post-apocalyptic buildings. These images look to be recycled background paintings from ''{{w|Fist of the North Star (1986 film)|Fist of the North Star}}'', a film [[Toei Animation|Toei]] had animated the same year. Regardless of animation efficiency/corner-cutting, the flashing images of ruined civilizations are eerily appropriate for Unicron.
[[File:TFTM Sludge Devastator.jpg|thumb|Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.]]
*When Sludge gets haymakered by Devastator, his eyes pop out of their sockets in ''{{w|Looney Tunes}}'' fashion.
*Kup's storytelling sequence aboard the shuttle is drawn from the novel ''{{w|Of Mice and Men}}'', complete with Grimlock in the Lenny role asking Kup to "tell Grimlock about petrorabbits again".
*The Junkions speak almost entirely in pop culture quotes and pastiches. Littered among the generic phrases like "operators are standing by!", "Film at eleven" and "eliminate even the toughest stains" are more specific references, such as:
**"Don't look behind door #2, Monty!" - a reference to the game show ''[[Let's Make a Deal]]'' and its host, [[Monty]] Hall.
**"Ger-ronny-doo-ron-ron-ronny-mo!" - both the famous "{{w|Geronimo (exclamation)|Geronimo!}}" war cry, and the 1963 hit "{{w|Da Doo Ron Ron}}".
**"You check in, but you don't check out" - a parody of the tagline for {{w|Roach Motel (insect trap)|Roach Motel}} insect traps.
**"Happy motoring!" - the slogan of gas company [[Esso]].
[[File:Tftm rosencrantz-and-guildenstern.jpg|thumb|Easy? You call that ''easy!?'']]
*The Quintesson jail cell includes robot debris ''strongly'' resembling [[:File:Tftm rosencrantz-and-guildenstern.jpg#parts|several mobile suits]] from 1985 Japanese animation ''{{w|Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam}}''.
*''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects (yes, even the high-budget Movie uses them):
**The ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine burst noise is used extensively throughout the film, over and over and over, almost any time a Decepticon takes flight.

**[[Luke Skywalker]]'s deactivating [[lightsaber]] is used as the sound of the Quintesson ship's ramp extending.
**Clashing lightsabers are used as Unicron fires eye-blasts at the attacking Transformers.

**An igniting lightsaber is used as Rodimus opens the Matrix.
**An AT-AT foot stomp sound is heard as the Autobot shuttle crash lands on Junk.
*The ''[[Star Trek]]'' sliding door sound is used as Wreck-Gar pulls out his <s>iPhone</s> mini-TV.
*The sound used for the communicators on ''Star Trek'' is used when Daniel activates his blaster to save Spike.

==Adaptations==
*[[Transformers: The Movie (Marvel comic)|A comic adaptation of the movie]] was published by [[Marvel Comics]] in 1986, concurrently with the movie's theater run. It was based off a non-finalized version of the script, and differs in many details from the final film. Additionally, most of the major character models (and possibly their unedited original character write-ups) appear in issue #4 of the ''[[The Transformers Universe|Transformers Universe]]'' series.
*[[Transformers the Movie (Ladybird adaptation)|A storybook adaptation]] was released in the UK by [[Ladybird Books]].
*A four-part adaptation was released in 2006/2007 by [[IDW Publishing]], as part of the film's 20th anniversary celebration. It was titled ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' to differentiate it from the [[Michael Bay]] [[Transformers (film)|live-action film]]. Unlike its predecessor, it adheres rigidly to the script and plot of the finished movie.

==Soundtrack==
{{main|The Transformers: The Movie - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack}}

==Promotions==
*Early in the movie's production, a [[The Transformers: The Movie promo|promotional trailer]] was made to sell the project to potential investors.
*The movie was advertised on related 1986 toy packages via the [[Decipher the Decepticon]] Sweepstakes, which included a pack-in poster and contest.
*The movie was heavily advertised directly by TV [[commercial]]s, and tail-end segments on Transformer toy ads. Portions of its story were also retold in altered fashion by animation segments of commercials for the movie character toys, such as a spot showing Springer doing battle with Wreck-Gar.

==In the comic continuity==
The [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel UK comic]] made extensive use of the Movie as the basis for a series of stories involving the Transformers in the future. However, there are several differences between the events seen on screen and those referenced in the comic:

*The comic always dates the movie to [[2006]], following the date given in a treatment that was all [[Simon Furman]] had when he wrote "[[Target: 2006]]".
*In "Target: 2006", [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] states that he was previously "[[Life Spark]]".
*The Matrix is always called the "Creation Matrix" in the comic, a name that predates the "Matrix of Leadership" but which is now used for the same physical object.
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] and [[Wheeljack (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Wheeljack]] both survive the events, both later appearing in "[[Space Pirates!]]" (set in [[2008]]).

In addition, [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] definitely survives the attack by Unicron.

The US comic almost completely ignored the events of the Movie, though later in the run an alternative future is briefly shown in "[[Rhythms of Darkness!]]" and "[[A Savage Circle]]". In this timeline at least some of the events of the Movie took place such as the creation of [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] from [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]], which is dated to 2005, though [[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]]'s death was overlooked. [[Prowl II|Wouldn't be the first time. Or the last.]]
*The US version of the future story "[[The Big Broadcast of 2006 (issue)|The Big Broadcast of 2006]]" implicitly has the events of the movie as part of its backstory. However, since the rest of the US series ignored the movie, this issue's place in the continuity is questionable.

==Edits==
Several English-language versions of the film exist, with the following differences in content from the American theatrical run:

*In some versions (notably the European version) the opening credits are replaced with a scrolling text ("''Star Wars'' style") which provides backstory.
*In some versions (notably the European version) the film ends with [[Victor Caroli|a narrator]] reassuring the audience that Optimus Prime will return.
*Instances of swearing in the film (there are two) were edited out; sometimes one, sometimes both. Those instances are: Spike yelling, "Oh shit, what are we gonna do now?" after the self-destructing Moon Base 2 fails to scratch Unicron, and Ultra Magnus growling, "Open, damn it, open!" while trying to open the Matrix to fend off Galvatron and the Sweeps on Junkion. The United Kingdom cinema version had the swearing included but, when it was released on VHS in the United Kingdom, Spike's line was cut ("damn" not being considered especially offensive in the UK). However it has been restored on all United Kingdom DVD releases.
*In some early FHE video releases, the shot of the Matrix falling out of Optimus Prime's hand and being caught by Hot Rod is edited so that it appears that Ultra Magnus simply takes the Matrix from Prime. Why this was done is not known, and the replay of the Hot Rod catch on Unicron's monitors was left intact.
*The original FHE video release of the film painted out all instances of Megatron's green-colored "bleeding" from the end of the battle of Autobot City up to his meeting with Unicron.
*Instead of DEG, the {{w|Rank Organisation|Rank Film}} "{{w|Gongman}}" appears before the British release of the film, as Rank were the United Kingdom distributors. Ironically, the DEG logo at the beginning uses the "Gongman" sounds, rather than it's own fanfare, possibly due to a plastering mistake.

None of these edits significantly affect the story. They should not be confused with various other sequences which were changed before the film's final release:

*Originally, Ultra Magnus's "death sequence" on Junkion called for him to be lassoed and drawn and quartered by the Sweeps' energy beams, but this was deemed too graphic for audiences, hence the less disturbing "shot to death" sequence seen instead. There is evidence that the original sequence had been fully animated when the decision was made, however; the Sweeps still kept their solid energy lassos when they fire upon Magnus, and Magnus is seen visibly straining against what appears to be said lassos (edited out and replaced with laser fire) before exploding. This also explains why the Junkions only have to put his limbs back on to repair him.
*A number of other sequences were illustrated as [[storyboard]]s but dropped, presumably without ever being animated. Among them were:
**A short scene showing Ironhide piloting the Autobot shuttle through ''huge chunks of ice'' from the tail of a passing comet, explaining how the Decepticons caught them unawares. In response to a reprimand by Prowl who prickishly disapproves of Ironhide's piloting shenanigans, Ironhide exclaims, "I can sure as shootin' dodge a couple of ice chunks". When the Autobots are suddenly jolted by the Decepticon strike force as Megatron and his troops attempt to enter the shuttle, Ironhide tells the others on board, "That was no ice chunk...". Heroic nonsense ensues...
**An extended sequence with Hot Rod and Daniel outside the city.
**A sequence of Mirage blasting Bombshell and being fired on by Megatron.
**The Autobots finally bringing down Devastator with a barrage of missiles (and the Constructicons subsequently shooting Red Alert in the back).
**The Decepticons dogpiling Optimus Prime, explaining why he seems to be standing up just before his fight with Megatron, and no longer holding his rifle. According to storyboards, Prime gets bum-rushed by Blitzwing (who causes Prime to drop his gun), Starscream, Astrotrain, and Skywarp. While it is not clear how Prime defeated the first four hand-to-hand combatants, Dirge is later shown attempting one final sneak attack (and gets his can handed back to him) as Prime is talking to Megatron before the two leaders' final fight.
**Trailbreaker is shown dead among the wreckage of Autobot City as the Decepticons begin their retreat.
:Some of these concepts were in earlier versions of the script, and hence made it into the comic adaptation.
*Rumors have occasionally circulated in the fandom of additional animated footage that was dropped from the film, such as ultra-violent battle scenes. No evidence has ever surfaced to back these claims; the only known edits of any storyline or character importance are those listed in this section.
:{{see|Misconceptions and urban legends about Transformers#The Transformers: The Movie|Urban legends about ''The Transformers: The Movie''}}

==Reception and box office==
{{quote|''The Transformers'', in which Orson Welles plays a planet, is pure headache material. Target audience of cartoon-watchers also will probably find the film unintelligible, noisy and unoriginal. Boxoffice prospects are dismal.|2=[http://books.google.com/books?id=DHNZAAAAMAAJ&q=Hasbro+Transformers&dq=Hasbro+Transformers&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1983&as_maxm_is=12&as_maxy_is=2005&num=50&as_brr=0&cd=69 Variety's Film Reviews 1985-1986, Volume 19]}}

{{quote|Obnoxious animated feature about the title good guys, who defend the universe against an evil planet (which has a voice of its own... provided by Orson Welles.) That deafening rock score certainly doesn't help. Little more than a feature-length toy commercial.|Leonard Maltin, ''1987 Movie & Video Guide''}}

{{quote|While all this action may captivate young children, the animation is not spectacular enough to dazzle adults, and the Transformers have few truly human elements to lure parents along, even when their voices are supplied by well-known actors. |2=[http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/09/movies/screen-transformers-animation-for-children.html The New York Times]}}

{{quote|Transformers -- The Movie, a feature-length animated film inspired by the syndicated TV cartoon series inspired by the Hasbro toy imported from Japan, is utterly uninspired entertainment. |2=[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3CE8EA8D40CCA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM The Dallas Morning News]}}

{{quote|If you can swallow, without gagging, a large measure of sentimental and offensive religiosity - lines like "Do not grieve. Soon I will be one with the Matrix," whispered by a failing hunk of Autobot metal - then you have a better than even chance of leaving the theatre on your own two feet. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=01kiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=W6gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2445,1286000&dq=transformers&hl=en The Montreal Gazette]}}

{{quote|Everything is poorly drawn and - when it's in focus - one dimensional. It is terribly hard to separate the robots from the backgrounds, and there is no easy way to tell the good guys from the bad guys. In an earlier movie based on the same sort of robot toys - "Go-Bots: The Battle of the Rock Lords" - the good guys were either white or colorful and the bad guys were dreary, and they had distinct personalities. Not this movie; everyone looks and sounds alike, except one pink robot who is a female good guy. Her tin voluptuousness makes her stand out. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kw4wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OgMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6957,6334152&dq=transformers&hl=en The Toledo Blade]}}

{{quote|Even with an all-star cast doing the voice overs... and a rock music score, this is still nothing more than a ripoff of a successful toy line. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AYckAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dtsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4192,1494652&dq=transformers&hl=en The Palm Beach Post]}}

{{quote|The great animated villains, like the Wicked Queen in Disney's "Snow White," had motivations as compelling as any live-action character. Unicron apparently destroys entire worlds because it has nothing else to do. |2=[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/57996397.html?dids=57996397:57996397&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+8%2C+1986&author=CHARLES+SOLOMON&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=8&desc=%60THE+TRANSFORMERS%27%3A+STRETCHING+A+POINT The LA Times]}}

{{quote|A surprisingly dark, emotional, and almost excessively cynical experience for Transformers fans.|2=[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_the_the_movie/ Rotten Tomatoes]}}

''The Transformers: The Movie'' was almost universally panned by professional critics upon its release.

Well-known film critic and animation enthusiast, Leonard Maltin, gave it a rating below 1 1/2 stars in his ''1987 Movie & Video Guide'', regarding it as a "bomb", then proceeded to write an unflattering blurb denouncing the film as a "feature-length toy commercial".

Caryn James of the ''New York Times'' admitted in the [[August 9]], 1986, edition of the paper that the film was intended for young children, pointing out that the kids in the audience were having a grand ole time with the ''Transformer'' toys and comics they brought with them to the theater, but derided the film as having little to no appeal to adults.

''Variety's Film Reviews 1985-1986, Volume 19 '' was far less even-handed in their review, claiming the film had no appeal to adults ''or'' children. They predicted the film would perform poorly in the box office (and were correct, in that regard).

Carrie Rickey of the ''Dallas Morning News'' chided the film in the [[August 13]], 1986, issue of the paper, describing it as "essentially a cartoon ''Star Wars'' about robots from a toybox galaxy far, far away". She then went on to say that the film "never takes off" and derided it as "uninspired".

Janice Kennedy of the ''Montreal Gazette'' verbally disemboweled the film in the [[August 23]], 1986, edition of the paper, criticizing it as overly commercial, profane, loud, violent, humorless, heavy-handed in its religious messages and chaulk-full of gratuitous celebrity voice-overs. Her only compliment: "But ''The Transformers: The Movie'' does have at least one good thing going for it, a howlingly appropriate song by [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]. It's title? ''Dare to be Stupid''." ''Ouch''.

Nanciann Cherry in the August 13, 1986, edition of the ''Toledo Blade'' claimed the robots in the movie had little personality and faded into the background. She even went on to say that ''[[GoBots]]: {{gb|GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords|Battle of the Rock Lords}}'' was a superior film! Her review was filled with inaccuracies, however, citing characters such as "Unicon" and claiming that the destruction of Cybertron's moons by "Unicon" is what caused the Autobots to travel to Autobot City, at which point Megatron attacked. To be fair, she readily admits, "About 20 minutes into the film, I gave up on the plot and tried to count all the ideas that were stolen from other sources. Now that kept me busy." So she wasn't really paying attention, anyway.

Kathryn Buxton in the [[August 22]], 1986, edition of the ''Palm Beach Post'' gave the film a whopping ''one'' star, calling it "a ripoff of a successful toyline", whatever ''that'' means. In the same article, she also gave David Cronenberg's ''[[Fly|The Fly]]'' one star, just for reference.

In the August 8, 1986, edition of the ''LA Times'', critic Charles Solomon made clear his dislike for the film centered primarily on the fact that none of the characters had interesting or believable motivation. He stated, "Not even the best actor can create a character out of nothing. Not one of the robots has a reason for doing what he does." Solomon then pointed to Unicron specifically as an example of the lack of deep, multi-dimensional motivations in the characters.

Over time, however, the movie has acquired something of a cult following beyond the core base of [[fandom|Transformers fans]], particularly among children of the 80s. It is sometimes screened as a midnight movie at colleges. Online, it is not hard to find amateur reviews lauding everything about it as utterly awesome, from the premise to the soundtrack, and dismissing more critical views out of hand. ''The Transformers: The Movie'' currently holds a 55% "rotten" rating based on 22 professional reviews at online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.<ref>http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_the_the_movie/</ref> Nowadays, many professional reviewers review the film in a favourable light compared to the [[Michael Bay]] films, stating that they lack the nostalgia of the 86 film.<ref>https://www.inverse.com/article/7309-6-enduring-legacies-of-1986-s-animated-the-transformers-the-movie</ref><ref>https://slate.com/culture/2007/07/transformers-why-the-original-animated-movie-is-still-the-best.html</ref><ref>https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Sorry-Michael-Bay-Why-1986-Transformers-Movie-Best-43582.html</ref>

Most people think the film's soundtrack still holds up today, especially with famous artists like Vince DiCola and Stan Bush. Most professional critics consider the soundtrack the film's strongest point.<ref>https://www.screengeek.net/2017/06/22/retro-review-the-transformers-the-movie-1986/</ref>

===Box office===
To date, the budget of the film has not been disclosed—at least, not in any place the [[fandom]] has found (common estimates are around $5-6 million).<ref>Dormehl, Luke (August 2011). "Transformers: The Movie retrospective". SFX Magazine (211).</ref><ref>De Laurentiis PRODUCER'S PICTURE DARKENS: KNOEDELSEDER, WILLIAM K, Jr. Los Angeles Times August 30, 1987: 1.</ref> According to most box office tracking sites,<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=transformers.htm</ref><ref>http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1986/0TRTM.php</ref> ''The Transformers: The Movie'' made $5,849,647 in domestic (e.g., United States) theaters. Comparing this with other animated films of 1986, the results are not particularly charitable; while it did better financially than ''{{gb|GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords}}''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gobots.htm</ref> ($1,338,264) and ''Heathcliff: The Movie''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=heathcliff.htm</ref> ($2,610,686), it performed worse than the 1986 ''[[My Little Pony]]'' movie<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mylittlepony.htm</ref> ($5,958,456) and the '''second''' ''Care Bears'' movie<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=carebearsmovie2.htm</ref> ($8,540,346). Bringing up ''The Great Mouse Detective''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=greatmousedetective.htm</ref> ($25,336,794) and ''An American Tail''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=americantail.htm</ref> ($47,483,002) would really just be overkill.

==Significance in Transfandom==
''The Transformers: The Movie'' remains one of the most important elements of the entire Transformers brand, both within the fiction and from the perspective of the brand's popularity and "mindshare".

Fictionally, it established several story concepts that have been used repeatedly in the years since 1986, some of which—such as Unicron and the Matrix—are now central to the entire Transformers mythos. The movie is also the centerpiece of the most well-known Transformers continuity: the Generation 1 animated universe. The ''Transformers'' cartoon is split into "pre-movie" and "post-movie" sections which feature different characters and settings, and even somewhat different visual styles. (Most pre-movie episodes were animated by the studio [[Toei Animation|Toei]], while most post-movie episodes were animated by [[AKOM]].)

On a practical note, it was widely available on videotape, and remained so long after the ''The Transformers'' cartoon had gone off the air. Only a [[Family Home Entertainment|handful of series episodes]] were available on video, making ''The Transformers: The Movie'' the logical choice for someone looking to pick up a ''Transformers'' cartoon; this made it far more well known among fans than any particular cartoon episode.

To an entire generation of young fans, the movie was the most visually spectacular and narratively epic ''Transformers'' experience of their entire youth. Events such as the death of Optimus Prime are widely reported to have reduced many kids to tears. It is hardly a surprise that these emotional experiences embedded themselves deeply in many fans' memories.

Latter-day ''Transformers'' stories have made uncountable references (though [[The Transformers: The Movie/references|we're trying]]) to the movie, lifting or borrowing elements of its [[Minus One|dialogue]], [[The Transformers: Autocracy|fight sequences]], [[A Flash Forward|subplots]], [[Heavy Is the Head|details]], [[Less Than Zero|settings]] and more, as writers have discovered that a shout-out to the movie is a quick and easy way to win cheers from [[GEEWUN|some segments]] of [[Fandom|their audience]]. Even Hasbro and Takara themselves have gotten in on the act, producing a variety of toys based on the minutia of the film: [[Starscream (Armada)#Cybertron|Starscream's crown]], [[Galvatron (G1)/toys#United|Galvatron's creation]], the awakening of [[Hot Rod (G1)/toys#Masterpiece|Rodimus Prime]], and more. The fandom, for their part, pores over new ''Transformers'' fiction, often latching on to even the most tangential of details as a [[The Search for Alpha Trion#Quotes|"reference"]] to the movie, [[The Burden Hardest to Bear|coincidental or not]]. Call-outs, real or perceived, were once a rare treat - but now are so common that many fans are more likely to groan than cheer whenever some version of Optimus Prime declares that "[[One Shall Fall|One shall stand...]]" or a damaged character states that "[[Unfinished|I still function]]" or a vengeful blast is preceded by "[[The Illusion of Control|Here's a hint]]" or yet another Soundwave says yet another variation of "[[Human Error, Part II|Soundwave superior]]", or... well... this:

<center><gallery>
File:Transformersanimatedfilmposter.jpg|'86
File:TFTM1.jpg|'86 again
File:Botcon2000-movieposter.jpg|2000
File:TFvol1 31cvrRI.jpg|2010
File:Timelines10 diamonded.jpg|2014
File:Echoes and Fragments cover.jpg|2016
File:LL1 Riptcvr.jpg|2018
</gallery></center>

In 2016, thirty years after the release of the film, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Optimus Prime]] gave us perhaps one of the most meta comeback lines in franchise history. When [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] declares that "Today — one shall stand, and two shall fall!", Optimus simply punches him in the face with a flat "No cliches, Galvatron", voicing once and for all just how sick we've gotten of '86 quotes. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}}

{{quote|...wait, I only just noticed something. Did they actually manage to go the entire episode without quoting the 86 movie?|[http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/94625-episode-65-beast-hunters-episode-13/page-4#entry2360303 Allspark poster Unit Eleven]}}

==Criticisms==
[[File:TFTM Ratchet dies.jpg|left|thumb|Only [[Stormtrooper (SW)|Imperial Stormtroopers]] are so precise.]]
All this is not all to say that the movie is a "masterpiece", exactly. The film met with extremely harsh critical reviews on its release, and some of those criticisms still ring true today.

The film displays an arguably cynical attitude towards itself as [[To sell toys|a vehicle for advertising toys]], especially in the way beloved characters are killed—sometimes gratuitously—for sake of justifying the story's focus on a new group of toys. (Note that with the exception of Laserbeak and possibly Buzzsaw the poster at the top of this article features ''only'' new characters.)

Further, the two primary plot devices—[[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] and the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]—have no prior establishment in the fiction. Unicron is given no backstory ([[Call of the Primitives|until season 3]]) or justification; he simply exists, is very dangerous, and is afraid of the Matrix, all for no adequately explained reason. The introduction of the Matrix itself is a heavy [[retcon]]. The story asks the audience to accept that this cosmically powerful artifact has been in Prime's possession all along (even though an X-ray of Optimus Prime's innards in the second-season episode "[[A Prime Problem]]" shows absolutely no signs of said Matrix), but has somehow never been relevant before. In fact, this lack of prior establishment is what led [[Simon Furman]] to develop the divinity backstory of Unicron and [[Primus]] in the UK comics run.

[[File:Megatronlightsaber.jpg|thumb|Your powers are weak, old man!]]
The movie bears many similarities to ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'': There are several character-parallels ([[Springer (G1)|Springer]] is a [[Han Solo]]-type and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] even has Princess Leia's hairdo!), the primary threat is similar (it's the [[Death Star]]... [[Unicron/Generation 1|but it transforms!]]), and both feature a climactic battle where the [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|young hero]] hears the voice of his [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|dead, wise mentor]] one last time before saving the day.

To be a bit more fair to ''The Transformers: The Movie'', however, most of these similarities are either superficial (Arcee's Leia-hair; Megatron's "lightsaber" he briefly uses in his duel against Optimus Prime) or can be seen as elements common to thousands of years' worth of epic storytelling through human history, not just common to ''Star Wars''. As a simple example, the phenomenon of two charismatic leaders dealing each other mortal injuries in battle hearkens back to some versions of the "[[King Arthur]]" myth; in their final battle, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arthur]] and his arch-enemy [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sir Mordred]] deal one another lethal injuries and both apparently expire—though Arthur according to the legend will [[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1|return]] when [[Cybertron (planet)|England's]] need [[Darkest hour|is greatest]].
{{--}}

==Formatting==
[[File:Tftm widescreenesque.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The "widescreen" picture (left) actually ''cuts off'' the top and bottom of the fullscreen picture (right). Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them.]]
Although it was billed in some advertisements before its theatrical release as being "widescreen", the movie was in fact animated in a 4:3 (fullscreen) aspect ratio. For its theatrical screenings, the film was matted down in the projector by the projectionist to a 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen), chopping the top and bottom off the picture, but all video transfers of the movie were done without mattes, meaning that there was actually more picture visible in the fullscreen video and DVD releases than there would have been in theaters. Across 2006 and 2007, new editions of the DVD of the film were released by Sony BMG and [[Metrodome]] which applied the mattes in order to replicate the original theatrical presentation of the film for the first time in home entertainment. Some fans, however, didn't realize that the film wasn't actually ''animated'' in widescreen, and, hearing that the DVD was to be in widescreen, expected to see the fullscreen image with additional footage at the sides, causing them to complain that the top and bottom were cut off, thereby totally missing the point.
{{--}}

==International versions==
{{main|The Transformers: The Movie/dubs}}

==Commercial releases==
[[File:TFTM LaserDisc cover.jpg|thumb|The cover image from the original Japanese home media release of the movie.]]
*The movie was originally released in North America on VHS and Beta on [[September 17]]th, 1987<ref>http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19870911&id=YhAuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ls8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3198,2881581</ref> by [[Family Home Entertainment]], minus Spike's swear. Not long after, it was released in the UK by [[Video Gems]]. This version featured the opening text crawl and closing narration inherent to the UK version of the film. In Australia, the film was released on video by RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts. In Japan, Hillcrane released a {{w|LaserDisc}} version alongside a VHS copy, both sporting a gorgeous painted cover that decorated many a fan's desktop back in the day.
*The movie was released spottily in the '90s, beginning with a budget VHS by Avid Home Entertainment in 1991. [[Malofilm]] released a VHS in Canada in 1995, notable for being the first home entertainment version to include Spike's swear. In 1998, Japanese company Pioneer produced another pair of LaserDisc and VHS releases. In 1999, things kicked off when American company [[Rhino Entertainment|Kid Rhino]] secured the Transformers license and released the film on VHS once again.
*The 21st century's flirtation with ''The Transformers: The Movie'' started with a UK budget VHS release of that country's version by [[Sony|Sony Wonder]], distributed by [[Maverick Entertainment]]. A Japanese company called CatCo followed this up with a VideoCD, and Malofilm—now Seville—were the first to release a DVD version of the film, though it was just a dump of their VHS version.
*In November 2000, ''The Transformers: The Movie'' got its first, full professional DVD release from Kid Rhino. This edition, labelled a "Special Collector's Edition", is the first to feature remastered video and audio, and several special features, including storyboards and an interview with [[Vince DiCola]]. Rhino concurrently released this version on VHS, sans extras.
*In 2001 in the UK, Sony Wonder released their own much-delayed DVD version of the film. It was the UK version of the film, but included Spike's swear. However, the release was burdened by badly interlaced video, though it notably included the [[Omni Productions]] dub version of the ''[[Transformers: The Headmasters (cartoon)|Headmasters]]'' episode "[[Four Warriors Come out of the Sky]]" as an extra. This version (including the ''Headmasters'' episode) was simultaneously released on VHS.
*The movie was released on DVD in Australia in 2003 by [[Madman Entertainment]], using the same video as the Maverick version, but distinguished by some nifty new cover art by [[Don Figueroa]], and special features not seen on other editions, such as ''[[Stan Bush|The Touch]]'' music video and 80s TV spots.
[[File:Tftm uk covers.jpg|thumb|The UK poster art (left) has been the most common DVD and VHS cover in its home country, but the Ultimate Edition featured new art by Andy Wildman (right).]]
*After acquiring the license to release ''Transformers'' DVDs in the UK, [[Metrodome]] focused on completing their run of series box sets before turning their attention to the movie properly, releasing only a cheap budget DVD of the UK version through Prism Leisure with no extras, and a UMD of the same version.
*In 2005, Metrodome released ''Transformers: The Movie - Reconstructed'', a new version of the film designed to expose as much of the animated picture as possible. This, however, only resulted in exposing the rough, unfinished edges of the animation, and an overly pale remaster was compounded by excessive interlacing due to an unnecessary NTSC to PAL transfer. This, coupled with a 5.1 remix from [[Magno Sound & Video]], featuring the same extra sound effects that they added to Rhino's season box sets, made this release both controversial and disappointing to many. This was the first time that the US version of the movie was released in the UK, and the first to feature the US poster art as a cover (although a Silverscreen store exclusive version of the disc included a reversible cover with the UK poster art as well). Extras include trailers, TV spots, the character biographies from the Madman release, a looped version of the Lion ''Transformers'' theme on the main menu, and a subtitled version of "[[Four Warriors Come out of the Sky]]".
[[File:Tftm sony covers.jpg|thumb|Sony's covers, by Don Figueroa.]]
*For the movie's 20th anniversary in 2006, new license holder [[Sony|Sony BMG]] released a two-disc special edition of the film, featuring both a high-quality widescreen remaster and the original fullscreen version, audio commentaries from crew and fans, several new featurettes interviewing those involved in the movie's production, storyboards, TV spots, American and Japanese commercials and more. Most notably, this version included the first Western release of "[[Scramble City: Mobilization]]", albeit silent and unsubtitled, featuring only audio commentary. Also very notable is that this version includes an actual deleted scene from the animated film as an extra, though it is more of interest as a curiosity than anything it actually contains, being an approximately 2-second-long aerial view of the Autobots running towards the critically damaged Optimus Prime. This release featured two covers by Don Figueroa: one is of the '84-'85 cast that appear in the movie, and one is of the movie's new characters, available either as a lenticular hologram that switches between the two, or as a reversible sleeve with the images printed on either side.
[[File:Tftm madman covers.jpg|thumb|Madman's 2003 DVD cover (left), and their 2007 Special Edition cover (right).]]
*Delayed a bit to coincide with the hype for the 2007 [[Transformers (film)|live-action movie]], Metrodome also released a two-disc "Ultimate Edition" with a different widescreen master. Like "Reconstructed", this version used the US edition of the film, but this time, the UK version was also included, in fullscreen, on the second disc. Extras include TV spots, commercials, the Madman biographies, storyboards, commentary, "Scramble City" (with audio and subtitles), featurettes with [[Flint Dille]] and [[Peter Cullen]], and more. The double-disc edition was sold in a steel case featuring new art by [[Andrew Wildman]], with the UK poster art adorning the standard case inside. Various store exclusives were available, including postcards from Play.Com, a reversible cover with the US poster art from HMV, art cards from Virgin Megastore and [[posters]] from Woolworths and [[Toys"R"Us]]. It was also available in an extra-less single-disc version. This version was premiered at the Mid Ulster Film Festival in Ireland which was the only cinema showing of the remastered version of the film to date.
[[File:ShoutFactory TFTM BluDVD.jpg|thumb]]
*The film was released in Full HD 1080p on Blu-ray in the UK in October 2007. The Blu-ray is not region-locked, so it will play anywhere in the world. It features a 2.0 soundtrack, 5.1 Dolby Digital track, and a full bitrate DTS 5.1 track. The master used was the same used by Sony for their US DVD. Sadly, there are no extras on the DVD. The version of the film on the Blu-ray is the US one, complete with curse words.
*Madman produced their two-disc special edition through some collaboration with Metrodome, and consequently it features much of the same content, with additional extras taking the form of The Touch music video and a bonus episode of ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''. This release again features cover artwork by Don Figueroa, specifically the cover of [[IDW Publishing|IDW]]'s ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' adaptation.
*For the film's 30th Anniversary, and after being out of print in the US for 10 years, the film was rereleased on Region 1 DVD and given its first Region A Blu-ray release on [[September 13]], [[2016]] by [[Shout! Factory]]. Both versions are sourced from a brand-new 4K transfer which underwent extensive color-correction and remastering, and a Steelbook packaging variant of the Blu-ray was also made available.<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/action-adventure/the-transformers-the-movie-limited-edition-30th-anniversary-steelbook The Transformers: The Movie Limited Edition 30th Anniversary Steelbook]</ref> The Steelbook Blu-ray was released in the UK by [[Manga Entertainment]] as a limited edition on December 12th, 2016, followed by a standard edition release a year later.
*On September 27, 2018, Fathom Events screened the movie at select theaters in the United States. The movie was preceded by an interview with [[Travis Knight]] and [[Hailee Steinfeld]] and a preview of a scene from ''[[Bumblebee (film)|Bumblebee]]'', and followed by a short featurette of Stan Bush discussing the music he contributed to the movie and performing acoustic versions of ''The Touch'' and ''Dare''.<ref>[http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/08/01/1986-transformers-movie-hitting-theaters-one-night-only-369314 1986 Transformers Movie Hitting Theaters One Night Only!]</ref> Cineplex would later show the movie in Canadian theaters on October 4.

==Television broadcasts==
Following a segmented, five-part broadcast during [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season of ''The Transformers'']], the complete feature film was aired on American television in 1989 via Fox stations. Air dates and times were June 17 at Noon, July 30 at 11 A.M. and September 2 at 10 A.M. Of course, this was the language-edited video release from Family Home Entertainment.

The movie was aired on [[Hub Network|The Hub]] on February 18, 2012, following [[Orion Pax, Part 1|the Season 2 premiere]] of ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' on what was called "Transformers Mega Saturday". Uniquely, this version combined the European opening narration with the US scrawl-free opening credits, muted the two swear words (rendering the lines as "It isn't even dented! ...What do we do now?!" and "Open... ''Open!''"), used the European closing narration at the end, and sped up the scroll of the end credits to cut it down for time, ending the lyrics of the [[theme song]] around the beginning of its second verse ("Strong enough to break the bravest heart..."). Subsequent re-airings on The Hub aired this version of the movie.

The American television airing of the feature film adds one extra sound effect, and it has never been heard in any other release. During the scene when Arcee is racing to jump aboard the departing Autobot shuttle, there is a distinctive sound effect when she jumps. In all other releases there is no sound effect.

A July 4, 2014 Hub broadcast of the movie markets it as ''Transformers: The Animated Movie'', distinguishing it from that computer animation/live action [[Transformers (film)|hybrid film]] with the similar title made two decades and one year later.

==Notes==
*According to [[Buzz Dixon]], Hasbro's decision to kill off Optimus Prime was actually an attempt to maintain some brand-storytelling parity with ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'', as Dixon had just convinced them to allow the death of [[Duke (G.I. Joe)|Duke]] in ''{{w|G.I. Joe: The Movie}}'' and both films were in production at the same time.<ref>http://www.joeheadquarters.com/interviews_dixon.shtml</ref>

*This film was the last professional performance by [[Orson Welles]], who died only a month later. According to production materials shown at [[BotCon 2000]] by Tim Finn, the voice recording sessions for ''The Transformers: The Movie'' were done on [[September 10]] and [[September 11|11]] of 1985. Welles died on [[October 10]] of that same year. It has often been speculated that Unicron's last line ("Destiny… you cannot destroy my destiny!") was recorded by another actor—possibly [[Leonard Nimoy|Nimoy]]—because it sounds different than the other lines. This speculation has been quashed by statements by Transformers voice director [[Wally Burr]].<ref>http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/60-astrominutes/wally-burr/wally-burr-3.html</ref>
[[File:Windcharger wheeljack otp.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Uncle Owen! Aunt Beru!!]]

*With the exception of Starscream and possibly Shockwave, only the Autobots suffered fatalities in the movie. All of the other "dead" Decepticons from the Autobot City battle were rebuilt into Galvatron's new troops, and although more Decepticons were shown taking heavy damage and suffering huge casualties while fighting Unicron, their identities and their final condition are uncertain. Additionally, both Starscream and Unicron survived in the post-movie series in some form or another. Shockwave's death in the finished film is highly uncertain, although in the script it is fairly strongly implied. He does make some miscolored appearances in crowd shots in later cartoon episodes, but these are probably examples of the fairly common animation errors in those episodes.

*Somewhat ironically, though only three of the original eighteen Autobots - [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]], [[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]], and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] - are definitively shown to have survived the movie, two would quite literally never be heard from again: [[Scatman Crothers]] passed away (though this didn't stop Jazz from making any number of background cameos) while Casey Kasem [[Casey Kasem#Notes|quit the show early in the third season]]. Fate's finger is fickle indeed.

*Unicron's roars in the movie were stock vocalizations originally created for Marvel Productions' 1982 ''The Incredible Hulk'' animated series and performed by voice actor Bob Holt, who voiced the [[Hulk]] in that show. Holt otherwise never voiced a character in the Marvel/Sunbow Transformers series (although he was a regular member of the ''{{gb|Challenge of the GoBots (cartoon)|Challenge of the GoBots}}'' cast as the original voice of [[Cop-Tur (GoBots)|Cop-Tur]]), and had passed away the year before ''The Transformers: The Movie'' was released in 1986. Thus, Unicron has the distinction of featuring ''two'' posthumous performances for the same Transformers character in a single production.

*[[:File:TFTM-MaybeBeachcomber.jpg|A robot resembling Beachcomber]] appears alongside Spike and the Autobots inside Unicron seconds before Daniel blasts the acid cover. Whether this was actually meant to be Beachcomber or just coincidental coloring is unknown, but regardless, Beachcomber shows up alive and well in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]".

*Pieces of music from the movie would later be used in the Commodore 64 version of ''Turrican''. For instance, basically unaltered bits of "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWFx-Go6Y6A Escape]" make up [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6jjpwpDVNY Subsong Two of the game's title theme].

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/movie/movie.html ''The Transformers: The Movie'' Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3212281345/weekend/ ''The Transformers: The Movie'''s box office domestic gross.]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20080426020409/http://www.tftm.net/ ''The Transformers: The Movie'' "Unofficial Fansite", an extremely thorough site about the movie]
*[https://sunbowmarvelarchive.blogspot.com/2020/01/mp-4034-transformers-movie.html Draft scripts and storyboards on Sunbow and Marvel Archive]
*[http://zobovor.tripod.com/transformers_the_movie_bloopers.html The Transformers: The Movie Bloopers]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transformers: The Movie}}

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 1 media]]
[[Category:MSTF]]
[[Category:Real world films]]

Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)

2020-09-29T20:38:36Z

OptimusPrime 13131: /* Characters */

{{Nav-bw|logo=BWTFcartoonlogo.png}}

'''''Beast Wars: Transformers''''' is a Daytime Emmy award-winning [[computer-generated imagery|computer-animated]] television series that premiered on [[April 22]], [[1996]] in syndication in the United States.<ref>Though this episode played several days earlier in several US markets, its most widespread screening was on the 22nd.</ref>

Though [[Trukk not munky|reviled]] by many ''Transformers'' fans when it first hit the airwaves in 1996, ''Beast Wars'' is now considered by many to be among the finest examples of ''Transformers'' storytelling, striking a happy balance between character, humor, and story.

==Overview==
''Beast Wars'' opens at an unspecified time and place, where two warring factions of robots have crashed on a strange planet populated by animals like those on [[Earth]]. The planet abounds in mystery, with vast deposits of raw [[energon]] and evidence of [[Vok|alien]] activity. The Energon forces the newly arrived Transformers to take on protective beast forms to shield themselves from the ambient Energon radiation. And so begin the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]]...

[[File:Beastwarsmaxgroup.jpg|left|upright=1.66|thumb|Rattrap and Airazor conspire to ruin school picture day.]]
Though at first the show seemed to be in an entirely separate continuity, by the end of the first season's 26 episodes, viewers had been treated to a number of classical Transformers references, such as [[Unicron]] and even the reappearance of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], last seen as a ghost in the third season of [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the original cartoon]]. These ties to the original story increased as the second season progressed and the planet was revealed as prehistoric Earth, the characters having been thrown back in time. The third season was entirely structured around the [[Maximal]]s defending their dormant [[Autobot]] ancestors aboard the ancient crashed [[Ark (G1)|Ark]].

The show won over many viewers through fun, intriguing stories and generally high production values. Strong characterization, top-notch scripting and voice acting, and complex, overarching plot threads are among the reasons cited for the show's enduring popularity. Some of the show's mysteries and machinations still remain topics for fan debate decades after its conclusion.

The show's CGI, though somewhat primitive by today's standards, was revolutionary by television standards of the time (and puts [[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)|some later shows]] to [[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|shame]]). Mainframe's animators took pains to ensure their characters gestured and emoted in great detail, and the "camera" work often took creative advantage of the format's flexibility.

The show was immediately followed by a sequel series, ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]''.
{{-}}

==Episodes==
{{main|List of Beast Wars episodes}}

''Beast Wars'' had 52 episodes over 3 seasons.

===Season 1: 1996–1997===
{{columnlist|4|
# [[Beast Wars (Part 1)]]
# [[Beast Wars (Part 2)]]
# [[The Web]]
# [[Equal Measures]]
# [[Chain of Command (BW)|Chain of Command]]
# [[Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge]]
# [[Fallen Comrades]]
# [[Double Jeopardy]]
# [[A Better Mousetrap]]
# [[Gorilla Warfare]]
# [[The Probe]]
# [[Victory (episode)|Victory]]
# [[Dark Designs]]
# [[Double Dinobot]]
# [[The Spark]]
# [[The Trigger, Part 1]]
# [[The Trigger, Part 2]]
# [[Spider's Game]]
# [[Call of the Wild]]
# [[Dark Voyage]]
# [[Possession]]
# [[The Low Road]]
# [[Law of the Jungle]]
# [[Before the Storm]]
# [[Other Voices, Part 1]]
# [[Other Voices, Part 2]]}}

===Season 2: 1997–1998===
{{columnlist|4|
# [[Aftermath]]
# [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)]]
# [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)]]
# [[Tangled Web]]
# [[Maximal, No More]]
# [[Other Visits (Part 1)]]
# [[Other Visits (Part 2)]]
# [[Bad Spark]]
# [[Code of Hero]]
# [[Transmutate (episode)|Transmutate]]
# [[The Agenda (Part 1)]]
# [[The Agenda (Part 2)]]
# [[The Agenda (Part III)]]}}

===Season 3: 1998–1999===
{{columnlist|4|
# [[Optimal Situation]]
# [[Deep Metal]]
# [[Changing of the Guard]]
# [[Cutting Edge]]
# [[Feral Scream Part 1]]
# [[Feral Scream Part 2]]
# [[Proving Grounds]]
# [[Go with the Flow]]
# [[Crossing the Rubicon]]
# [[Master Blaster]]
# [[Other Victories]]
# [[Nemesis Part 1]]
# [[Nemesis Part 2]]}}

==Cast==
[[File:BW Maximals.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Time for Rattrap to lead.]]
[[File:BW Predacons.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Waspinator is loved by fans.]]
Because developing new CGI character models was, at the time, an expensive and time-consuming process, the number of on-screen characters in ''Beast Wars'' was relatively small compared to most other ''Transformers'' shows. It is thus practical to list all the Transformers who appeared in the cartoon. They are listed in order of appearance. (The [[stasis lock]]ed [[Autobot]]s and [[Decepticon]]s aboard the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] are not on this list.) Note that many characters besides these are also full-fledged ''Beast Wars'' characters, having appeared in other media.
{{-}}

{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=
*[[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] ([[Garry Chalk]])
*[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] ([[Richard Newman]])
*[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]* ([[Scott McNeil]])
*[[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] ([[Ian James Corlett]])
*[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] (Scott McNeil)
*[[Tigatron]] ([[Blu Mankuma]])
*[[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] ([[Pauline Newstone]])
*[[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] (Scott McNeil)
*[[Transmutate (BW)|Transmutate]] ([[Susan Blu]])
*[[Depth Charge (BW)|Depth Charge]] ([[David Sobolov]])
*[[Tigerhawk]] (Blu Mankuma)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c2=
*[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] ([[David Kaye]])
*[[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] ([[Don Brown]])
*[[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] ([[Doug Parker]])
*[[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] ([[Alec Willows]])
*[[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] (Scott McNeil)
*[[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]† ([[Venus Terzo]])
*[[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] ([[Jim Byrnes]])
*[[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] ([[Colin Murdoch]])
*[[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] ([[Campbell Lane]])
*[[Ram Horn]] ([[Lee Tockar]])
*[[Sea Clamp]] (Ian James Corlett)
*[[Cicadacon]] (Scott McNeil)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (Lee Tockar)
*[[Dinobot II]] (Scott McNeil)
|c4=
*[[Vok]] (Blu Mankuma, Richard Newman)
'''[[Decepticon]]s'''
*[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (Doug Parker)
*[[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] (Garry Chalk)
'''[[Protohuman]]s'''
*[[Blix|Leader Neanderthal]] (Garry Chalk)
*[[Una]] (Susan Blu)
*[[Chak]] (?)
|nonumbering=true
}}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Allied with the Maximals, nominally a Predacon.

† Became a Maximal towards the end of the series, though originally a Maximal protoform.

==Awards and nominations==
===1998 Daytime Emmy Awards===
*Outstanding Achievement in Animation - [[Clyde Klotz]] '''(WINNER)'''

==International releases==
===Japan===
In Japan, the ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' cartoon was split into 2 separate 26 episode series.

====''Beast Wars: Super Robot Lifeform Transformers''====
[[File:BW Logo Japanese.gif|250px|center]]

'''''Beast Wars: Super Robot Lifeform Transformers''''' ( ビーストウォーズ超生命体トランスフォーマー ''Beast Wars Chō Seimeitai Transformers'') aired in 1997, consisting of the North American season 1 episodes. In charge of localization was [[Yoshikazu Iwanami]], an audiography director whose resume included shows such as the [[TV Tokyo]] dubs of [[Saban]]'s ''[[X-Men]]'' and the original ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. Iwanami's signature style of localization and dubbing relies heavily on satirical comedy and ad libbing, most commonly turning the programs into self-referential parodies of themselves. While the early episodes of ''Beast Wars'' were fairly innocuous in their ad libs, as time went on their inclusion became progressively more intrusive and by the last third of the series there was a severe tonal shift.

The ad libbing in ''Beast Wars'' primarily consisted of "noise"; talking for the sake of talking and reducing atmospheric silence or visual subtlety to a minimum. One particular trait of the dub was that each character had their own unique vocal tic with which they would punctuate their sentences or, more commonly, chant incessantly for no apparent reason. For instance, Waspinator would chant "''bun''", Scorponok would chant "''orya''", Blackarachnia would hiss "''chā''", Rhinox would ramble "''dana''" and so on. This gimmick was especially pronounced during fight scenes, when characters would repeatedly and comically shout their vocal tics every time they pulled the trigger of their weapons, reducing firefights to a cacophony of unending gibberish.

Many characters underwent considerable changes in personality and characterization. Some of these changes were gradual; Megatron began the series as a gravelly voiced and uncharismatic slob who would loudly hock loogies after fits of maniacal laughter. That trait was phased out in exchange for him becoming an effeminate, mood-swinging goofball; his tone of voice transitioning from a ferocious baritone to a silly high pitch at the drop of a hat. He was also made humorously cowardly, shouting out wimpy excuses while retreating (including the claim that he was late for piano practice).

Other characters were fundamentally altered right from the get go. [[Predacon computer|NAVI-ko]], the Predacon computer, gained a girly and fitful personality and characters would talk with her rather than at her. Tigatron was made into a humorous samurai ronin parody. Airazor had her gender changed, becoming a young male and Tigatron's trusty ward (and later, his lover).

All 26 episodes were aired without any edits for time or content (unlike the Japanese broadcasts of ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)#Japanese release|The Transformers]]'' and many future imported Western ''Transformers'' shows). However, the episodes were aired out of the original sequence. The new order was mostly harmless save for one exception: "[[The Spark]]" was aired before "[[Victory (episode)|Victory]]". As a result, that made it seem like the Maximals were abandoning Airazor in their attempt to leave Earth.

''Beast Wars'' aired on [[TV Tokyo]] in the Wednesday 6:30 PM timeslot. As the second season of the North American ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' was not ready for localization by the time ''Beast Wars'' ended in Japan, a pair of domestically produced cartoon series, ''[[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars II]]'' and ''[[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo (cartoon)|Beast Wars Neo]]'', were commissioned to fill the gap. The [[Japanese themes|opening theme]] for ''Beast Wars'' was "[[War War! Stop It]]" by [[Banana Ice]] while the ending theme was "[[For the Dream|FOR THE DREAM]]" by [[Mickey]].

====''Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals''====
[[File:BWMetals Logo.jpg|center|250px]]

'''''Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals''''' (超生命体トランスフォーマービーストウォーズメタルス, ''Chō Seimeitai Transformers Beast Wars Metals'') aired in 1999, consisting of the North American season 2 and 3 episodes. While ''Beast Wars'' had been fairly judicious in its self-referential humor, even in its last stretch of episodes, ''Beast Wars Metals'' was an unrestrained self-parody, constantly breaking the fourth wall and demonstrating awareness of its own status as a TV series.

Ad libbing was done to the extreme and characters all received major personality adjustments to reflect the aggressively comedic nature of the series. For example, Depth Charge was turned into a goofy old man who enjoyed singing fishing songs while transforming, Silverbolt was now psychotically polite with an obnoxious happy-go-lucky attitude, and Rampage now talked in the rough-and-tumble dialect of a cartoon street punk. The show was incessantly self-aware, regularly acknowledging the camera, the TV channel and, in one of the more oppressive gags, Rattrap would constantly smell what the audience was eating (making remarks to the effect of, "Oh, that's Sato-san's curry" as he sniffed). Yoshikazu's dubbing style would become synonymous with all imported Western ''Transformers'' cartoons in Japan, as he would be placed in charge of localizing every series through ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Prime]]'', all with the same overbearingly satirical attitude.

The distribution of episodes for ''Beast Wars Metals'' was complicated. Japan included selected episodes in two separate theatrical releases:

:*''[[Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers]]'' (premiering the episode "[[Bad Spark]]")
:*''[[1999 Summer Toei Anime Fair]]'' (premiering the episode "[[Cutting Edge]]").

Since the above episodes were released theatrically, they are not included in the show's proper 26 episode list, with their places being taken by two original [[clip show]]s:

:*Episode 14: "[[Where Is the Banana?]]"
:*Episode 26: "[[Remix: I Lost the Banana!]]"

As with the other installments in the ''Beast Wars'' franchise, ''Beast Wars Metals'' aired on [[TV Tokyo]] in the Wednesday 6:30 PM timeslot. The series had two opening themes, "[[Tamashii no Evolution]]" and "[[Sennen no Soldier]]" by [[Hironobu Kageyama]], and two ending themes, "[[BA-BI-BU-BE Beast Wars]]" and "[[HALLELUYAH]]" also by Kageyama.

===United Kingdom===
When originally aired on GMTV in the United Kingdom, ''Beast Wars'' was only screened on school holidays, usually in double bills on Bank Holidays, and one episode per morning on half-term weeks, meaning that only a few episodes were shown a year, with wide gulfs in between (most prominently, ''three months'' passed between the airings of "Other Visits" parts [[Other Visits (Part 1)|1]] and [[Other Visits (Part 2)|2]]). In a sign of things to come, "[[Beast Wars (Part 1)]]" was shown some 25 minutes earlier than billed due to rescheduled news reports, meaning many fans missed the entire opening episode. Things went from bad to worse when "[[Equal Measures]]" was skipped, and only continued when, after "[[Victory (episode)|Victory]]", the series skipped directly to "[[Other Voices, Part 1]]". The entirety of the second season followed the conclusion of the first, but the channel never aired the third season; although it was subsequently released on VHS, the [[cliffhanger]]-resolving "[[Optimal Situation]]" was only available as a free gift with purchase at [[Toys"R"Us]].

Additionally, these GMTV airings were modified in various ways. The first and most foremost alteration was the removal of the word "Transformers" from the series' title, which was only reinstated with "[[Other Voices, Part 1]]". With regard to the actual content, the earliest episodes generally had nothing more extreme than the removal of uses of the word "[[Slag (slang)|slag]]" (as it is effectively a synonym for "slut" in English slang), but with the beginning of the second season, edits were steadily made to episodes for no readily apparent reasons. Additionally, any scenes featuring flashing images were routinely put through a filter that slowed such scenes down to comical levels. This culminated in a butchered version of "[[The Agenda (Part 1)|The Agenda]]", which snipped out many short scenes throughout all three episodes for no reason, from inconsequential moments like Tarantulas cackling and driving out of his lab in Part 1, to key scenes such as Silverbolt and Optimus Primal's "office talk" in Part 2, and in what was the last straw for many fans, the complete second half of [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]]'s speech (''the part explaining [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s entire motivation''), also from Part 2.

During the time they had the rights to the series, GMTV also showed the entirety of seasons one and two on the then-obscure digital-only channel ITV2.

Channel 5, a terrestrial channel, showed the entire series in its complete form in 2003. Thankfully. This got rerun too, leading to the ''Beast Wars'' comics getting [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|used as reprints in Titan's Movie-based comic]].

===France===
In France and (French) Belgium, the show was called "Animutants" and had a good-quality dubbing, rather close to the original voices. But while the first two seasons of the show were aired, the third one never was; the show always ended with "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]", leaving the viewers in the area with the worst case of cliffhanger ever.

However, the French dubbed episodes that can nowadays be found on DVD and VHS stop at "[[Other Visits (Part 2)]]", but we can assume that the TV broadcast reached the end of the season.

===Belgium===
Beast Wars aired under its original name with Dutch subtitles, but like the French broadcast, it stopped abruptly after "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]".

===China===
In China, the show was localized as ''Chāonéng Yǒngshì'' (超能勇士, "Super-Powerful Warriors") and released in a good-quality dubbing by the People's Art Theatre of Liaoning. It was very successful on the TV station and once won a very high audience rating. Like the Japanese dub, Season 2 and Season 3 episodes were also merged into one season called ''Chāonéng Yǒngshì: Jīnshǔ Biàntǐ'' (超能勇士：金属变体, "Super-Powerful Warriors: Transmetals"). Neither title included "Transformers", leaving some of the audience unaware that this was a sequel to [[The Transformers (cartoon)|their childhood]]. Following the Chinese release of ''Beast Machines'', the People's Art Theatre of Liaoning re-dubbed the show with character names changed into the Chinese translation of ''Beast Machines'', I.E. changing the name of [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] from Hēixīngxīng Duìzhǎng (黑猩猩队长, "Captain Chimpanzee") to Xīngxīng Jiāngjūn (猩猩将军, "General Gorilla").

===Vietnam===
In Vietnam, the show was called ''Chiến tranh quái vật vũ trụ'' ("Galaxy Monster Wars"). The show was released on VHS tapes with a very good Vietnamese dub, then it was copied to VCD. Unfortunately, as happened in France, only the first two seasons were aired. It ended with "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]", and left the fans with a cliffhanger.

===Germany===
The German dub used the original title, ''Beast Wars''. The show was initially very successful on the TV Station RTL2 and was released on VHS. However, only the first season was shown and dubbed. Furthermore, the TV broadcast had many fight scenes censored to comply with Germany's strict laws against TV violence; however, the VHS Release was uncut. After many reruns the show was cancelled and the second and third Season were never shown in Germany.

===Italy===
The toyline was already renamed ''Biocombat'', but the cartoon got the long and unusual title of ''Rombi di Tuono e Cieli di Fuoco per i Biobombat'' ("Thunderbolts and Flaming Skies for the Biocombat"). Such long titles were indeed a tradition for cartoons dubbed in Italian in the '90s. The theme song was replaced with the homonymous "[[Rombi di Tuono e Cieli di Fuoco per i Biocombat]]".

The dub made many changes—much dialogue was simplified, and every silence was filled with either a narrator describing aloud what just happened or Megatron having inner monologues.

For some reason, "Gorilla Warfare" and "The Probe" were switched around in the airing order. To patch this, the former begins with the narrator stating that Optimus Primal is searching around for another probe after last time's failure.

The ''Beast Wars'' dub is the first time the terms "Autobots" and "Decepticons" were kept as such in an Italian dub. While "Decepticons" was kept in subsequent series, to hear "Autobots" again, Italians had to wait until 2007 when the first live action movie was released, since ''Robots in Disguise'' and the Unicron Trilogy went back using "Autorobot".

===Spanish America===
The show aired in many Latin American countries, mainly through [[Cartoon Network]]'s South American feeds, as well various local TV stations. The dub was recorded at Audiomaster 3000 in Mexico. Apart from some name changes (Optimus Primal became Optimus Primitivo, to name an example) the dub was completely uncut.

==Home video releases==
===Canada===
{{main|Alliance Atlantis}}
[[File:Alliance Beast Wars Vol1 DVD.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85]]
;VHS
*''Beast Wars'' — A Feature Length Beasties Adventure (1996)
*''Robots-Bêtes'' — Une Adventure Cybernetique (1996)
*''Beast Wars'' — Beasties Escape (1998)
*''Robots-Bêtes'' — L'Évasion (1998)
*''Beast Wars'' — Warning from Space (1998)
*''Robots-Bêtes'' — Alert Dans L'Espace (1998)
*''Beast Wars'' / ''Robots-Bêtes'' Three pack (1998)
*''Beast Wars'' — Optimus Lives! (1998)
*''Robots-Bêtes'' — L'Empreinte D'Optimus (1998)
;DVD
*''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes — Where the Beasties Began! (2005)
*''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes: Volume 2 — The Saga Continues! (2005)
*''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes: Volume 3 — The Battle Rages On! (2005)
*''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes: Volume 4 — The Predacons Advance! (2005)
*''Beast Wars'' — The Complete First Season (2005)
{{-}}

===Japan===
{{main|Geneon Universal Entertainment}}
[[Pioneer]]'s Japanese DVD sets of the series come with optional English language dialogue with Japanese subtitles, allowing fans in Japan to view the more serious version of the show if desired.
;VHS
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Enter the Super Lifeform Transformers (1997)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Cheetus's Crisis (1997)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Disappeared (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — The Solitary Warrior Tigatron (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — New Weapons of Terror! (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Goodbye, Rattle!? (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Floating Island Death Match (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — The Destrons' Dramatic Finish (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Two Dinobots? (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Revive, Beast Power! (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — The Immortal Starscream (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Fare Thee Well, Tigatron (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — To Protect the Peace... (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers Special'' — Great Cybertron Army Collection (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers Special'' — Great Destron Army Collection (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Great Quiz Collection (1999)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — We're Back! (1999)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Convoy Reborn (1999)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — I Quit! (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Huh? The Face? (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — I'm a Crab! (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — I Do Love You! (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Gro~w Bigger (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Rrray! (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — The Movie (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — I Am Resurrected (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Love Typhoon (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Sssshiny! (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — I Hath Returned (2000)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Happy? This Should Do It (2000)
[[File:Pioneer BeastWars Laserdisc Box2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85]]
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Maximal Edition (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Predacon Edition (1998)
;DVD
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — DVD BOX (2000)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers: Metals'' — DVD BOX 1 (2000)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers: Metals'' — DVD BOX 2 (2000)
{{-}}

===United Kingdom===
{{main|Universal}}
The entire run of the show ended up on VHS from 2000 to 2001, though "[[Aftermath]]" was only available as a pack-in with [[Claw Jaw#toys|Claw Jaw]], and "[[Optimal Situation]]" could only be obtained as a free gift with purchase at [[Toys"R"Us]]. DVD releases were considerably more spotting, starting from "[[The Agenda (Part 1)|The Agenda]]" and releasing only ten episodes across two volumes. In both cases, however, cuts were gone! Characters could rightfully swear!
[[File:UK Beast Wars Vol3 VHS.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|Not featuring [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]].]]
;VHS
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Free Video (2000)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 1 (2000)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 2 (2000)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 3 (2000)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 4 (2000)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 5 (2001)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 6 (2001)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 7 ([[March 5]] 2001)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 8 (March 5, 2001)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 1 (2001)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 2 (2001)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 3 (2001)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 4 (2001)
;DVD
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 1 (2004)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 2 (2005)
{{-}}

===United States===
[[File:Rhino BeastWars Vol1 DVD.jpg|thumb|upright=0.55]]
;{{main|Rhino Entertainment}}
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Volume 1 (2002)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Volume 2 (2002)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete First Season (2003)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Second Season (2004)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Third Season (2004)

;{{main|Shout! Factory}}
*''Transformers - Beast Wars'': Season One (2011)
*''Transformers - Beast Wars'': The Complete Series (2011)
*''Transformers - Beast Wars'': Seasons 2 & 3 (2011)
*''Transformers - Beast Wars'': Chain of Command (2014)
*''Transformers - Beast Machines'': The Complete Series (2014)
{{-}}

===Australia and New Zealand===
{{main|Madman Entertainment}}
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 1 (2006)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 2 (2006)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 3 (2006)
*''The Transformers: Beast Wars'' — Complete Collection (2009)
{{-}}

===Russia===
Russian DVD sets come with only Russian dialogue and no subtitles.
;DVD
*''Transformery: Beast Wars'' — Season 1 Vol. 1 (first 13 episodes of the first season) (2011)
{{-}}

===Germany===
;DVD
;[[Pandavision]] (2012)
*''Transformers: Beast Wars'' - Season 1 (April 24, 2012)

===Pack-ins and Giveaways===
{{main|Hasbro|Pack-in material}}
;VHS
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Aftermath]] & [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)]] (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Aftermath]] (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)]] (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Bad Spark]] & [[Code of Hero]] (1999)

;DVD
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Equal Measures]] (2006)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[A Better Mousetrap]] (2006)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[The Spark]] (2006)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Spider's Game]] (2006)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Possession]] (2006)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Code of Hero]] (2006)
*"[[Beast Wars (Part 1)|Enter the Super Lifeform Transformers]]" and "[[Victory (episode)|The Destrons' Dramatic Finish]]" (2006)
*"[[Beast Wars (Part 2)|Destroy the Destrons]]" (2006)
*"[[The Web|Cheetus's Crisis]]" (2006)
*"[[Equal Measures|Operation: Time Bomb Transfer!]]" (2006)
*"[[Chain of Command (BW)|Convoy Disappeared]]" (2006)
*"[[Power Surge (episode)|The Sky-Mountains Explode]]" (2006)
*"[[Fallen Comrades|The Solitary Warrior, Tigatron]]" (2006)
*"[[Double Jeopardy|Kick of the Spider Woman]]" (2006)
*"[[The Probe|New Weapons of Terror!]]" (2006)
*"[[Gorilla Warfare|The Assassin Virus]]" (2006)
*"[[A Better Mousetrap|Goodbye, Rattle!?]]" (2006)
*"[[The Spark|The Falcon Warrior, Airazor]]" (2006)
*"[[The Trigger, Part 1|Floating Island Death Match, Part 1]]" and "[[The Trigger, Part 2|Floating Island Death Match, Part 2]]" (2006)
*"[[Dark Voyage|Around and Around the Jungle]]" (2006)
*"[[Possession|The Immortal Starscream]]" (2006)

==Notes==
* The first season of ''Beast Wars'' cost $18 million, according to [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/browse_thread/thread/b334d45514e26ab4/bc8e54e9165e0823?hl=en&lnk=st&q=bob+forward+interview+inferno+megatron&rnum=1#bc8e54e9165e0823 a 1997 interview with Bob Forward].
* The decision to go forward with a second season came in late November of 1996.<ref>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/KcGZU0EOPf0/_zV_QoKiGe8J</ref>
* There are three known unproduced ''Beast Wars'' episodes: "[[A Greater Ape]]", "[[Bitch Wars]]", and "[[Dark Glass]]".
* {{w|lang=ja|B-CLUB (模型雑誌)|B-Club magazine}} erroneously claims that ''Beast Wars'' is the first fully CGI television show in the world, a title actually held by ''{{w|Insektors}}''. Mainframe's own CGI show ''{{w|ReBoot}}'' also predates ''Beast Wars''.
* The Production Designer for the show, [[Clyde Klotz]], won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation in 1997. How cool is that?
* For reasons unknown, neither the [[Rhino Entertainment|Kid Rhino]] nor the [[Shout! Factory]] U.S. DVD releases of ''Beast Wars'' season three included the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UmCEsbUe6E opening that was televised], which included an original shot of the ''Axalon'' and ''Darksyde'' spaceships crashing down to prehistoric Earth. Instead, all season three episodes began with the season two [[title sequence|opening]] for the first part of the beginning credits.
* Also, the ''Beast Wars'' season one releases from both Rhino and Shout! Factory used the shorter version of the [[title sequence]] and [[theme song]] that originated from when ''Beast Wars'' was shown as part of the syndicated ''[[Power Block]]''.

===Foreign names===

*''English:'' '''''Beasties''''' (Canada; broadcast only<ref>https://imissbionix.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/beast-wars-beasties-dvd-sets-wont-be-released-in-canada/</ref>)
*''Japanese:'' '''''Beast Wars Chō Seimeitai Transformers''''' (ビーストウォーズ超生命体トランスフォーマー, "Beast Wars Super Lifeform Transformers"), '''''Chō Seimeitai Transformers Beast Wars Metals''''' (second and third seasons, 超生命体トランスフォーマービーストウォーズメタルス, "Super Lifeform Transformers Beast Wars Metals")
*''Bulgarian:'' '''''Voinata na zverovete''''' (Войната на зверовете "War of the Beasts")
*''Cantonese:'' '''''Ciunang Jungsi''''' (Hong Kong, 超能勇士, "Super-Ultra Warriors")
*''French:'' '''''Animutants''''' (France), '''''Robots-Bêtes''''' ("Beast-Robots", Canada)
*''Italian:'' '''''Biocombat'''''
*''Latvian:'' '''''Briesmoņu kari''''' ("Monster Wars")
*''Mandarin:'' '''''Bǎibiàn Jīngāng''''' (Taiwan, 百變金剛, "Morph Vajra"), '''''Biànxíng Jīngāng: Yěshòu Zhànzhēng''''' (China, 变形金刚：野兽战争, "Transfomers: Beast Wars")
*''Polish:'' '''''Kosmiczne Wojny''''' ("Cosmic Wars")
*''Russian:'' '''''Bitvi Zverey''''' (Битвы зверей, "Battles of the Beasts"), '''''Zhestokye voini''''' (Жестокие войны, "Cruel wars")
*''Spanish:'' '''''Guerra de Bestias''''' (America, "War of Beasts")
*''Vietnamese:'' '''''Chiến tranh quái vật vũ trụ''''' ("Galaxy Monster Wars")

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External Links==
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhWipIfRhqz0stsLo2v9If0qbNDVfoSrY "Beast Wars Super Lifeform Transformers" playlist] on TakaraTomy's YouTube channel (JP only)

[[Category:Beast Wars media]]
[[Category:Television series]]

Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)

2020-09-29T20:38:18Z

OptimusPrime 13131: /* Characters */

{{disambigr|Battle for the Spark|the online game in the [[Live-action film series|live action film]] continuity|Battle for the Allspark}}

{{nav-bm}}

'''''Beast Machines: Transformers''''' is a 26-episode cartoon that aired in the US from 1999 to 2000, in support of the [[Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline)|toyline]] of the same name. It is a direct follow-up to ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'', set in the same G1 continuity and featuring many of the same characters. Like ''Beast Wars'', its [[computer-generated imagery|computer animation]] was created by [[Mainframe Entertainment]].

==Overview==
[[File:Thereformattingmaximalsmaximize.jpg|left|upright=1.67|thumb|The Maximals, in a rare moment of Not Running Away.]]
The show follows the adventures of the core ''Beast Wars'' cast upon their return home to Cybertron; there, Optimus Primal and his crew find that the whole planet is abandoned, and the streets are patrolled by mindless [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon drones]] serving [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]], who somehow escaped his captivity.

Worse still, they learn that they are infected with a deadly [[Transformation virus|virus]] that will kill them in a matter of hours. Salvation comes from the mysterious supercomputer known as the Oracle, who sees them fit to complete its mission of a planetwide "reformatting", and turns them into [[technorganic]] warriors, a perfect blend of organic and technological matter.

As the show progresses, Primal and his fellow Maximals learn to balance their technological side with their newly introduced organic aspects, mastery coming in slow stages. Unlike the previous [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|conflict]], where sides had been roughly equal, the four original Maximals were quite outnumbered by their Vehicon enemies, and the battles took on a "guerilla warfare" feel, with the Maximals using sewers and underground levels to their advantage and avoiding surface levels unless for combat purposes. As the show progresses, two brand-new Maximals and a returning face boost their numbers.

Initially, Optimus is driven by a crusade to restore the organic above the technological and to right his failure to stop Megatron. Over time, it becomes increasingly clear that he's becoming obsessed and overzealous. At the midpoint, after Cybertron is almost destroyed, he realises that the point should be to create a ''balance'' of organic and technological, not a supremacy. Under this new, saner cause, the Maximals eventually turn Cybertron into an [[technorganic]] paradise, though at the cost of their [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|leader]]'s life.

{{--}}

===Production===

{{bigquote|I am more proud of [''Beast Machines''] than anything else I've ever had produced, because I got to do a twenty-six episode novel for television. It almost f**kin' ''killed me'', but I did it!|Bob Skir<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir]</ref>}}

[[File:OptimusPrimalBMconcept.jpg|right|upright=1.20|thumb|"Help me! My arms won't stop growing!"]]

Writer [[Steve Gerber]] had once pitched a "wildly original take on ''Transformers''" ([[Dan DiDio]]'s words) as part of the development of ''Beast Machines''.<ref>May 2008 "DC Nation" editorial appearing in {{w|DC Comics}} publications, following Steve Gerber's death</ref> Mainframe instead went with a different outline by Marv Wolfman: the Maximals returning to Cybertron and finding Megatron had conquered it. (The Vehicons may be his idea as well.)<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir in 2015], 42:00 to 42:30 and [http://web.archive.org/web/20080614012630/http://bigbot.com/beast-machines-transformers-bob-skir/Beast-Machines-FAQ/Tue_12_Oct_1999.html Bob Skir FAQ from 12 October 1999]</ref> Back in these early days, the show was to be called "''Beast Hunters''".<ref name="FKPR">[http://groups.google.com/group/rec.toys.transformers.moderated/msg/946225010fc740fb "Fox Kids Fall Press Release" from alt.toys.transformers on February 10, 1999]. In 1999, Bob seems to say other BM writers came up with Vehicons but in 2015 he says that's Wolfman</ref> [[Bob Skir]] and [[Marty Isenberg]] were invited into a discussion, despite not knowing much about ''Transformers'', because of their good working relationship with [[Fox Kids]] (who they'd worked on shows like ''[[Godzilla]]: The Series'' for). Skir didn't think he had a shot but it'd be good to network with Mainframe for the future.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir], 39:13 to 41:57</ref> In the end, Fox said they wanted the duo script editing a show based on Wolfman's outline.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir], 42:00 to 42:57</ref> (Bob felt a bit bad about that and made sure to hire Wolfman to write episodes.)<ref>49:50 to 50:00</ref>

[[File:Oracle (The Reformatting).jpg|left|upright=1.34|thumb|]]

[[Bob Skir]] says that other writers came up with the Vehicon Generals and "all the mystical stuff came from Marty [Isenberg] and I, based on Hasbro's request that we add a 'spiritual dimension' to the show". (The phrase "I am transformed" came from Hasbro.) The overall arc of the series also came from Skir and Isenberg "based on many conversations with Hasbro, [[Mainframe Entertainment|Mainframe]], [[Fox Kids|Fox]], and us".<ref name="Bob Skir FAQ from 12 October 1999">[http://web.archive.org/web/20080614012630/http://bigbot.com/beast-machines-transformers-bob-skir/Beast-Machines-FAQ/Tue_12_Oct_1999.html Bob Skir FAQ from 12 October 1999]</ref> Hasbro was quite keen on the spiritual tone out of a desire to try something new with the franchise, while Skir felt nature versus technology was an obvious theme but he felt that was a lazy cliché and the show should be about a balance between the two. (The technorganic characters helped him argue this.)<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir], 43:20 to 46:00</ref> He merrily went all-out with the spiritual aspect, expecting Hasbro to change their mind but he found they liked it and asked for more!<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir], 46:50 to 47:29</ref> It was Hasbro itself who said "hey, what if someone turned into a ''plant''?" as part of their drive to stretch the franchise to its limits.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir], 1:36:40 to 1:36:49</ref>

One odd brief was that both Mainframe boss [[Dan DiDio]] and Hasbro didn't want Skir and Isenberg to watch old episodes, as they wanted a fresh take and DiDio felt ''Beast Wars'' was too continuity heavy. (He'd even told Wolfman that ''Beast Wars'' had no ties to the original series and to do as he pleased with [[The Transformers (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[continuity]] when doing his outline.)<ref>''Beast Machines'' DVD supplementary materials</ref> Again: ''Beast Machines'' was a sequel to a sequel. As it turned out, ''Beast Machines'' ended up being more continuity heavy and one reason was because Hasbro told them about things like [[Vector Sigma]] and [[Hate Plague]] and encouraged them to be used.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir], 1:13:30 to 1:16:04</ref>

Isenberg did most of the work on the first season of ''Beast Machines'' due to Skir's workload and a bereavement, while Skir did most of the second season due to Isenberg running ''Action Man''.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir], 1:11:36 to 1:12:46</ref>

Skir originally wanted the character of Nightscream to be a young female Transformer, patterned after the girl, Newt, from the movie ''{{w|Aliens (film)|Aliens}}''. When that was nixed, Nightscream ended up becoming {{w|John Connor}} in ''{{w|Terminator 2: Judgment Day}}'' instead.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20071202095033/http://bigbot.com/beast-machines-transformers-bob-skir/Beast-Machines-FAQ/Fri_03_Dec_1999.html Bob Skir Q&A 3 December 1999] (archive copy)</ref>

Fox Kids' press release in 1999 not only still used the ''Beast Hunters'' name, it said the enemies would be Predacons.<ref name="FKPR">[http://groups.google.com/group/rec.toys.transformers.moderated/msg/946225010fc740fb "Fox Kids Fall Press Release" from alt.toys.transformers on February 10, 1999]</ref> Shortly after the press release, the production toyed with various titles before finalizing "''Beast Machines''". The use of the term Predacons in the press release may be an error or a deliberate "well nobody's heard of Vehicons yet" decision, as no other source has talked about Predacons being in it.

===Reception===
{{bigquote|It's been ''thirteen years!'' ... If there was one particular [Transformers] show you didn't like, I'm really sorry but, y'know, there were other ones too!|Bob Skir<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir]</ref>}}

[[File:Endgame1 Nightscream sonic attack.jpg|right|upright=1.34|thumb|'''I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I - HATE - ''YOU''!''']]

Controversial even by the standards of other ''Transformers'' reinventions, ''Beast Machines'' is remembered by some as a series which tried to tackle heavy philosophical concepts, discussing such issues like what it meant to live in an increasingly technological society, the dichotomy between the desires of the individual and the needs of the whole, the inevitability of conflict and inequality in a free society, the ugly consequences of fanaticism, and the paradox of a living technological world. Story editor [[Bob Skir]] describes the series as a "religious epic novel for television".<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAkRF4QBKew Bob Skir interview at youtube.com]</ref> Most of the Transformers [[franchise]] lore about [[spark]]s, their abilities, and the mechanism of their life cycle, was introduced or developed in this series.

The series amassed many detractors early on, who complained that core cast portrayals were inconsistent with how these personalities had been established over the years of the preceding ''Beast Wars'' series. Examples include Megatron being a far grimmer villain with a completely different agenda from before; Rattrap appearing to be too cowardly; Rhinox apparently ''choosing'' to become a villain (though it sounded like he was no longer in his right mind);<ref>[http://www.bigbot.com/beast-machines-transformers-bob-skir/Beast-Machines-FAQ/Fri_03_Dec_1999.html Bob Skir Q&A]</ref> and, later on, Silverbolt being a grim, vengeance-driven soldier with none of his former goofy-noble personality. Critics also alleged a "hippie" agenda behind ''Beast Machines'', with Optimus Primal becoming an anti-technology guru (it was actually intentional that Primal was going too far and he'd moderate his views in Season 2), and criticized Bob Skir's decision that the Maximals would not use guns (though big swords and highly destructive laser blasts were okay).

The show's "epic novel" storytelling structure meant that at times it was forced to tread water, relying on repetitive chase scenes and expository speeches. The plot and tone, with the heroes outnumbered and outgunned and on the run, also meant many episodes would have them running or under stress, without the humorous, occasionally zany approach of ''Beast Wars'' to balance it out: this was intentional but often a frustrating viewing experience. It was also, at that point in time, by far the most serialized American ''Transformers'' cartoon, making it difficult for new viewers to join at some random episode and be hooked in. It didn't help that the series began "in medias res" and with the characters suffering amnesia, with many foundational issues deliberately left vague until at last resolution was established in flashbacks in episodes 7-9. By then, [[Mainframe Entertainment|Mainframe]] executive [[Asaph Fipke]] had become somewhat notorious for repeatedly assuring fans that "all will be revealed". ''Why'' the series opened with the Maximals having amnesia and being in their Season 1 organic bodies is not obvious, as (aside from explaining why they're not immediately looking for Rhinox and Silverbolt) it wouldn't have affected the plot either way.

The show is one of the darker ''Transformers'' animated series and the most thought-provoking. It is also the final animated entry into the Generation 1 story canon, bringing the events in that continuity family to a rather conclusive ending (which ''also'' didn't win it many popularity points). If nothing else, the creators had ambitions to do more than [[to sell toys|sell toys]].

Despite all the criticisms, the show continued and improved on the high production values of ''Beast Wars'', with solid scripting and excellent voice acting. The CGI varied from competent to gorgeous. Mainframe's animators showed their considerable talents in giving highly emotive expression to such alien characters as the [[Vehicon general]]s and even the [[Diagnostic Drone]], who ''didn't have a face''. As with ''Beast Wars'', [[Robert Buckley]] provided the series background music, this time creating a stylized electronic music in keeping with the mechanical environment of Cybertron.

Hasbro was happy enough with how the show was doing that they asked Skir if there could be a third season. Believing that the show was strongest with 26 episodes and that (after the fandom controversy) Hasbro would want a rethink soon, Skir turned this down.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaZTNszyGU Moonbase 2 interview with Bob Skir], 52:39 to 54:57</ref> A [[Transtech|followup line]] was planned instead but after that aforementioned rethink, it was subsequently scrapped. Hasbro's next foray into animation would be to bring over a [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon)|year-old Japanese show]] for consumption in the United States, till a [[Unicron Trilogy|new story]] could be concocted.

In light of multiple cartoons (some with their own unfavorable reception) that have aired since then and the passage of time, ''Beast Machines'' has been reevaluated more favorably, although this is not universal.
{{-}}

==Episodes==
{{main|List of Beast Machines episodes}}
===Season 1===
[[File:Tankor flames.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Tankor, YOU'RE FIRED!]]
Season 1 largely centers on the Maximals' efforts to find out what has happened to them, as they arrive on Cybertron with no memories. In addition to Megatron and the core Maximal cast, three new Vehicon generals are introduced, as well as the new Maximal Nightscream. By the end of the season, Optimus Primal has been driven down a road of extremism, and an apocalyptic confrontation marks the season finale...

{{collist|2|
#[[The Reformatting]]
#[[Master of the House]]
#[[Fires of the Past]]
#[[Mercenary Pursuits]]
#[[Forbidden Fruit]]
#[[The Weak Component]]
#[[Revelations Part I: Discovery]]
#[[Revelations Part II: Descent]]
#[[Revelations Part III: Apocalypse]]
#[[Survivor]]
#[[The Key]]
#[[The Catalyst]]
#[[End of the Line]]
}}

===Season 2: Battle for the Spark===
[[File:Botanica5.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|This freakish, tentacled, multi-limbed creature is one of the kid-friendly good guys!]]
The ultimate face-off at the end of Season 1 is resolved in a most unusual and cerebral manner, setting the tone for Season 2 as Primal realizes his mission is one of balance, not extremism. Silverbolt rejoins the Maximal ranks, a new Maximal arrives from off-world, and two dangerous new generals join Megatron's side as the Maximals search for the lost Sparks of their brethren and battle to regain control of Cybertron.

{{collist|2|
#[[Fallout (episode)|Fallout]]
#[[Savage Noble]]
#[[Prometheus Unbound]]
#[[In Darkest Knight]]
#[[A Wolf in the Fold]]
#[[Home Soil]]
#[[Sparkwar Pt. I: The Strike]]
#[[Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search]]
#[[Sparkwar Pt. III: The Siege]]
#[[Spark of Darkness]]
#[[Endgame Pt. I: The Downward Spiral]]
#[[Endgame Pt. II: When Legends Fall]]
#[[Endgame Pt. III: Seeds of the Future]]
}}

==Cast==
[[File:Rattrap bm robotmode.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|There's a caption under me?!]]
Because developing new CGI character models was, at the time, an expensive and time-consuming process, the number of named on-screen characters in ''Beast Machines'' was relatively small compared to most other ''Transformers'' shows. It is thus practical to list all the Transformers who appeared in the cartoon. They are listed in order of appearance. (Most drones are not listed, and neither are incidental flashback characters.) Note that many characters besides these are also full-fledged ''Beast Machines'' characters, having appeared in other media.

{{-}}

{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=
*[[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] ([[Garry Chalk]])
*[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] ([[Scott McNeil]])
*[[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] ([[Ian James Corlett|Ian Corlett]])
*[[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] ([[Venus Terzo]])
*[[Nightscream (BM)|Nightscream]] ([[Alessandro Juliani]])
*[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] ([[Richard Newman]])
*[[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] ([[Scott McNeil]])
*[[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] ([[Kathleen Barr]])
|h2=[[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicons]]|c2=
*[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] ([[David Kaye]])
*[[Diagnostic Drone]] ([[Christopher Gaze]]/[[Paul Dobson]])
*[[Jetstorm (BM)|Jetstorm]] ([[Brian Drummond]])
*[[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] ([[Paul Dobson]])
*[[Thrust (BM)|Thrust]] ([[Jim Byrnes]])
*[[Obsidian (BM)|Obsidian]] ([[Paul Dobson]])
*[[Strika (BM)|Strika]] ([[Patricia Drake]])
|h3=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c3=
*[[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] ([[Scott McNeil]])
|c4=
*[[Oracle (BM)|The Oracle]] ([[Carol Savenkoff]])
*[[Noble (BM)|Savage/Noble]] ([[David Kaye]])
|nonumbering=true
}}

==International Release==
===Japanese release===
[[File:BeastWarsReturnsLogo01.jpg|center|250px|]]

The ''Beast Machines'' franchise was not initially released in Japan. As such, the ''Beast Machines'' cartoon did not reach Japan's shores until late 2004, where it was retitled '''''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns''''' (超生命体トランスフォーマービーストウォーズリターンズ, ''Chō Seimeitai Transformers Beast Wars Returns''). The series was initially broadcast on the satellite-only network MobaHO! - TAKARAND from [[November 6]], 2004, to [[January 30]], 2005. In February of 2005, it was reaired on [[Cartoon Network|Cartoon Network Japan]] and, following that, other networks including Gifu Broadcasting. Having been released on a satellite network, the series was not edited for time like other ''Transformers'' cartoons.

The localization was headed up by [[Yoshikazu Iwanami]], the man responsible for the dubbing of ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'', and thus ''Beast Wars Returns'' was reworked to the same extent as the previous series had been in Japan. The overblown jovial character quirks exclusive to the Japanese version of the series were retained while new quirks were created for the newer characters.

Perhaps most troubling of this satirical and humor-driven dub was [[Nightscream (BM)|Nightscream]]'s characterization. Nightscream was turned into a flaming homosexual stereotype, lifting many quirks from the then-popular "Hard Gay" persona of comedian {{w|Masaki Sumitani}} (including ripping off his catchphrase, "Fuu!"). Other homosexual stereotypes attached to Nightscream included a new obsession with fashion and style, highly effeminate petnames for other characters (such as calling Rattrap "Aunty"), and a more lustful infatuation with the character [[Noble (BM)|Noble]]. While effeminate, vaguely homosexual characters are not uncommon in Japanese ''Transformers'' cartoons (many Japanese incarnations of [[Starscream (disambiguation)|Starscream]] are ''preeeeetty'' gay), the portrayal of Nightscream in this manner was not particularly respectful. For example, as they were both flyers, Silverbolt often spent more time with Nightscream than he did Blackarachnia. Already feeling jilted due to Silverbolt's new standoffish personality, this regularly incited angry commentary from the jealous fembot, who derisively referred to Nightscream and Silverbolt as the "gay boys" ("homo-tachi").

Other changes included Megatron's various Vehicon drone forces taking on individual chants that they would repeat ad nauseum for every second of screen time. Additionally, one of the series' major plot twists was ignored for the sake of goofy adlibbing, as Thrust and Jetstorm retained not only the voice actors for Waspinator and Silverbolt, but all of the unique vocal and personality quirks belonging to those characters, thus eliminating any ambiguity to their previous identities. And needless to say, with this being a parody dub, all moments in the original version that were intended to be dramatic were reworked for comedy value.

Given the low-key release of the series, a new [[theme song]] was not recorded. Instead, "[[Phat Planet]]" by [[Leftfield]] was retained. Characters from the series would proceed to talk over the entire length of the [[title sequence]], having "amusing" conversations (likewise, they talked over the ending credits). Only one original piece of music was recorded for the series, "[[Megatron Ondo]]" by [[Yukio Hibariya]] and partly performed by [[Shigeru Chiba]], created exclusively for Volume 7 of the ''Beast Wars Returns'' DVD release.

Also exclusive to the final DVD release of the series was an additional, goofy clip show:

*[[Where Is the Banana? R]]
===Spanish America===
Like the dub for Beast Wars, Beast Machine's dub was produced in Mexico. Unlike Beast Wars, the show was dubbed at Barrero Productions, with an almost completely different cast.

==Home video releases==
===Japan===
[[File:Geneon BWReturns Volume7 DVD.jpg|thumb|100px]]
{{main|Geneon Universal Entertainment}}
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns'' — Volume 1 (2004)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns'' — Volume 2 (2004)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns'' — Volume 3 (2005)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns'' — Volume 4 (2005)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns'' — Volume 5 (2005)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns'' — Volume 6 (2005)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns'' — Volume 7 (2005)
*''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns'' — DVD Box (2005)
{{-}}

===United States===
[[File:Rhino Beast Machines DVD.jpg|thumb|125px]]
{{main|Rhino Entertainment}}
*''Beast Machines: Transformers'' — The Complete Series (2006)
 
{{main|Shout! Factory}}
*''Transformers Beast Machines'': The Complete Series (2014)

===Australia / New Zealand===
{{main|Sony}}
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'' — Season One: Volume One (2007)
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'' — Season One: Volume Two (2007)
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'' — Season Two: Volume One (2007)
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'' — Season Two: Volume Two (2007)
{{-}}

===United Kingdom===
[[File:UK Beast Machines Season1 DVD.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|[[Transformers (film)|Their]] tagline. [[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|His]] head.]]
{{main|Sony}}
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'' — Season One: Volume One — Reformatting (2007)
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'' — Season One: Volume Two — Revelations (2007)
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'' — Complete Season One (2007)
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'' — Complete Season Two (2007)

===France===
{{main|Sony}}
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'' — Intégrale Saison 1 (2009)
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'' — Intégrale Saison 2 (2009)
{{-}}

===Germany===

{{main|Sony}}
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'': Die komplette Season 1 (2007)
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'': Die komplette Season 2 (2007)
{{-}}

===Spain===

{{main|20th Century Fox}} {{main|Sony}}
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'': Primera temporada completa (2007)
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'': Segunda temporada completa (2007)
{{-}}

===Italy===

{{main|Sony}}
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'': Prima stagione (2007)
*''Transformers: Beast Machines'': Seconda stagione (2007)
{{-}}

===Giveaways===
{{main|Hasbro}}

*''Beast Machines: Transformers'' — [[The Reformatting]] & [[Master of the House]] (1999)
*''Beast Machines: Transformers: Battle for the Spark'' — [[Sparkwar Pt. I: The Strike|Sparkwar Part I: The Strike]] (2000)

==Notes==
*The idea of Cybertron having once been organic was a throwaway idea in [[Marvel Comics]] original treatment!<ref name="BC10">[http://www.toycollectors.com.au/bc10/bc10bb.html griffin's 2010 BotCon report]</ref>
*Skir had to pass up his dream project, an ''[[Avengers]]'' series featuring "lower-tier characters" such as the Scarlet Witch, the Vision, Wonder Man, and Tigra, which he had developed with Isenberg; the series got greenlit the same day the writing team had just committed to spearheading ''Beast Machines''. (The resulting ''Avengers: United They Stand'' series was a bomb and quickly vanished from the Fox Kids lineup.)
*The theme tune for the show was Leftfield's "Phat Planet". This was also used for a famous Guinness advert. The latter proved a more popular TV slot.
*This was the first ''Transformers'' fiction where the good guys didn't use any form of guns. This was down to Fox Kids' edict against firearms, as well as Bob Skir preferring to write heroes who didn't rely on guns,<ref name="FKPR"/> and Hasbro wanting to have less gunplay than before (though super-explodey lasers and sharp instruments were fine!).<ref name="Skir">[http://web.archive.org/web/20080222040119/http://bigbot.com/beast-machines-transformers-bob-skir/Beast-Machines-FAQ/Sat_06_Nov_1999.html Archived Q&A from Bob Skir's now-defunct website,] where Skir responds to the gun controversy (question 7).</ref> When Skir said this online, [[Misconceptions and urban legends about Transformers#Beast Machines|many fans wraxed wroth because they believed he was talking about gun usage in ''all'' adventure fiction and real-life gun users too]] (he wasn't).
*Fox Kids made some edits to their ''Beast Wars'' repeats, but ''Beast Machines'' got no requests to tone down the violence! <ref name="Bob Skir FAQ from 12 October 1999"/>
*Apart from flashbacks, visions and such, ''Beast Machines'' takes place entirely on (or in orbit of) Cybertron, thus making it the only television series ''not'' to feature any [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|annoying]] [[Kicker Jones|human]] [[Bud Hansen|companions]].
*[[Simon Furman]] thinks Beast Machines was too dark and serious for being a cartoon show for kids.<ref>[http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?t=705 SIMON FURMAN Transformers Q&A! It's here! at the IDW Publishing Forums]</ref> And trust us: the guy who wrote ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Generation 2]]'' is something of an expert on 'too dark and serious for kids'.
* [[Vector Prime]], in contrast, thinks it was an awesome show.<ref>[[Source:Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime]]</ref>
*This is the only Transformers cartoon that had a complete German dub.
*The French dub was made tardily, in 2007. [[Frédéric Meaux]] directed the French dub and will later direct the one of Transformers Prime. That is why the team of voice actors is almost the same in the two series. From these two series onwards, all the French dubs of the next Transformers TV shows will be made in Belgium.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''''Chō Seimeitai Transformers Beast Wars Returns''''' (超生命体トランスフォーマービーストウォーズリターンズ, "Super Lifeform Transformers Beast Wars Returns")
*''Cantonese'': '''''Maangsau Haap''''' (Hong Kong, 猛兽侠, "Beast Heroes")
*''French:'' '''''Mécanimaux''''' (Canada, "Mechanimals")
*''Mandarin:'' '''''Bǎibiàn Jīngāng: Zhòng Jīxiè Xìliè''''' (Taiwan, 百變金剛：重機械系列, "Morph Vajra: Heavy Machinery Series"), '''''Biànxíng Jīngāng: Shòu Xiè Zhēngbà''''' (China, 变形金刚：兽械争霸, "Transformers: Beasts vs. Machines")
*''Russian:'' '''''Transformery: Zvero-Roboty''''' (Трансформеры: Зверо-Роботы, "Transformers: Beast Robots")
*''Spanish:'' '''''Transformers: Bestias y Máquinas''''' (America, "Transformers: Beasts and Machines")

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Beast Machines media]]
[[Category:Television series]]

Transformers: Energon (cartoon)

2020-09-29T20:35:43Z

OptimusPrime 13131: /* Characters */

{{cleanup|April 2020|Tone down unnecessary negativity}}
{{nav-energon}}
[[File:TransEnergonTitle.JPG|upright=1.4|thumb|I'm looking pretty good [[Transformers: Combiner Wars (cartoon)|NOW]], aren't I?]]
'''''Transformers: Energon''''', known as '''''Transformers: Super Link''''' (トランスフォーマースーパーリンク) in Japan, is a cartoon series produced by [[Actas Inc.]] and [[Studio A-CAT]]. It aired in the US from January 2004 to June 2005 for <s>52</s> 51 episodes, in support of the toyline of the same name. It is a direct sequel to ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)|Armada]]'' and forms the second part of the "[[Unicron Trilogy]]", to be followed by ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Cybertron]]''.

The show takes place ten years after the finale of ''Armada'', opening in an age of peace on Cybertron and Earth which is destined not to last long. ''Energon'' pits the Autobots against an array of villains: the reborn [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]], the barely functional [[Unicron]], and the mysterious [[Alpha Quintesson|Alpha Q]] and his [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcon]] minions.

''Energon'', like ''Armada'', was written and animated in Japan and dubbed in [[Canada]] for US consumption. The series introduced to Transformers cartoons the technique of combining cel-shaded [[Computer-generated imagery|computer animation]] with 2D hand-drawn animation, creating a fusion between the CGI of ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''/''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Machines]]'' and traditionally animated series such as ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon)|Car Robots/Robots in Disguise]]''.

For ''Super Link'', "[[Taiyō no Transform!!]]" plays as its opening [[Japanese themes|theme]] and "[[Calling You]]" for its ending theme.

:''Preceded by: [[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)|Armada]]''
:''Followed by: [[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Cybertron]]''

==Cast==
Note: Many characters from Armada are present and not listed below, particularly the Mini-Cons; that being said, they are far less... important now. (Ex: Kicker's constant use of the Street Action Mini-Cons while barely giving any regard to them.)
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
'''Main Cast'''

*[[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] ([[Garry Chalk]])
*[[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] ([[Brent Miller]])
*[[Inferno (Energon)|Inferno/Roadblock]] ([[Michael Daingerfield]])
*[[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]] ([[Matt Hill]])
*[[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] ([[Scott McNeil]])
*[[Wing Saber (Energon)|Wing Dagger/Wing Saber]] ([[Colin Murdoch]])
*[[Omega Supreme (Energon)|Omega Supreme]] (Scott McNeil)

'''Team Rodimus'''

*[[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]] ([[Paul Dobson]]/[[Brian Dobson]])
*[[Prowl (Energon)|Prowl]] ([[Alistair Abell]])
*[[Landmine (Energon)|Landmine]] ([[Ward Perry]])

'''Team Bulkhead'''

*[[Bulkhead (Energon)|Bulkhead]] ([[French Tickner]])
*[[Cliffjumper (Energon)|Cliffjumper]] ([[Doron Bell, Jr.]])
*[[Downshift (Energon)|Downshift]] ([[Ty Olsson]])

'''Omnicons'''

*[[Arcee (Energon)|Arcee]] ([[Sharon Alexander]])
*[[Signal Flare (Energon)|Signal Flare]] ([[Michael Dobson]])
*[[Skyblast (Energon)|Skyblast]] ([[Terry Klassen]])
*[[Strongarm (Energon)|Strongarm]] (Scott McNeil)

'''Combiner teams'''

*[[Air Team]]
**[[Superion Maximus]] ([[Paul Dobson]])
**[[Storm Jet (Energon)|Storm Jet]]
**[[Sky Shadow (Energon)|Sky Shadow]]
**[[Terradive (Energon)|Terradive]]
**[[Treadshot (Energon)|Treadshot]]
**[[Windrazor (Energon)|Windrazor]]

'''Others'''
*[[Padlock (Energon)|Padlock]] ([[Ron Halder]])
*[[Autobot nurse]]s (?)
*[[Rhyming Omnicon fanboys]] ([[Tony Sampson]])

|c2=
'''Main Cast'''

*[[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron/Galvatron]] ([[David Kaye]]/[[Richard Newman]])
*[[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus/Snow Cat]] ([[Don Brown]])
*[[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] ([[Alvin Sanders]])
*[[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]] ([[Michael Dobson]])
*[[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave/Mirage]] ([[Doug Parker]])
*[[Shockblast]] ([[Brian Drummond]])
*[[Six Shot (Energon)|Six Shot]] ([[Terry Klassen]])

'''Combiner teams'''

*[[Construction Team]]
**[[Constructicon Maximus]] (Don Brown)
**[[Steamhammer (Energon)|Steamhammer]]
**[[Bonecrusher (Energon)|Bonecrusher]]
**[[Duststorm (Energon)|Duststorm]]
**[[Sledge (Energon)|Sledge]]
**[[Wideload (Energon)|Wideload]]

*[[Destruction Team]]
**[[Bruticus Maximus (Energon)|Bruticus Maximus]] ([[Trevor Devall]])
**[[Barricade (Energon)|Barricade]]
**[[Blackout (combiner)|Blackout]]
**[[Blight (Energon)|Blight]]
**[[Kickback (Energon)|Kickback]]
**[[Stormcloud (Energon)|Stormcloud]]

'''Terrorcons'''

*[[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]] ([[Colin Murdoch]])
*[[Battle Ravage]]/[[Command Ravage]]
*[[Divebomb (Energon)|Divebomb]]/[[Blackout (Terrorcon)|Blackout]]
*[[Cruellock]]
*[[Insecticon (Energon)|Insecticon]]

|c3=
'''Regulars'''
*[[Kicker Jones]] ([[Brad Swaile]])
*[[Misha Miramond]] ([[Ellen Kennedy]])
*[[Brian Jones]] ([[Ron Halder]])
*[[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] ([[Tabitha St. Germain]])
*[[Carlos Lopez]] ([[Matt Hill]])
*[[Miranda Jones]] ([[Nicole Oliver]])
*[[Rad White]] ([[Kirby Morrow]])
*[[Sally Jones]] (Nicole Oliver)

|c4=
*[[Alpha Quintesson]] ([[Trevor Devall]])
*[[Primus]] ([[Ron Halder]])
*[[Unicron]] ([[Mark Acheson]])

|nonumbering=true
}}

==Episodes==
{{main|List of Energon episodes}}

{{collist|4|
#[[Cybertron City (episode)|Cybertron City]]
#[[Energon Stars]]
#[[Scorpinok (episode)|Scorpinok]] {{sic}}
#[[Megatron's Sword]]
#[[The New Cybertron City]]
#[[Megatron Resurrected]]
#[[Megatron Raid]]
#[[Starscream the Mysterious Mercenary]]
#[[Battle of the Asteroid Belt]]
#[[Energon Tower (episode)|Energon Tower]]
#[[The Legend of Rodimus]]
#[[Crisis in Jungle City]]
#[[Kicker Beware!]]
#[[Energon Grid (episode)|Energon Grid]]
#[[Rodimus Friend or Foe?]]
#[[Go for Unicron!]]
#[[The Return of Demolishor]]
#[[A Tale of Two Heros]]
#[[Battle Stations]]
#[[Alpha Q: Identity]]
#[[Shockblast: Rampage]]
#[[Survival Instincts]]
#[[Each One Fights...]]
#[[Unicron Unleashed]]
#[[Open Fire!]]
#[[Ripped Up Space]]
#[[Team Optimus Prime]]{{dag|red}}
#[[Protection]]
#[[Imprisoned Inferno|Improsoned Inferno]] {{sic}}
#[[Jungle Planet (episode)|Jungle Planet]]
#[[Bulkhead (episode)|Bulkhead]]
#[[Farewell Inferno]] [[Return! Our Scorponok]]
#[[Crash Course]]
#[[Omega Supreme (episode)|Omega Supreme]]
#[[A Heroic Battle]]
#[[The Power of Unicron|The Power]]
#[[Optimus Supreme]]
#[[Unicron Perishes]]
#[[Ambition]]
#[[Wishes]]
#[[Galvatron!]]
#[[Break Through]]
#[[Distribution]]
#[[The Omega Train]]
#[[Decepticon Army|Deception Army]]
#[[Ironhide Team]]
#[[Formidable]]
#[[Galvatron Terror]]
#[[Destructive Power]]
#[[Spark (episode)|Spark]]
#[[The Sun]]
}}
{{dag|red}} ''[[Clip show]]'' 
"Return! Our Scorponok" was to be "Scorponok's Scars", but it never aired and was probably never dubbed. It is not considered to exist in the English version of the series.

==Criticisms==
{{bigquote|Something cool ''finally'' happened!|[[Alpha Quintesson|Alpha Q]] announces that the series is over.<ref>No, really! In every preview for ''Super Link'', Alpha Q promised the audience that "Something cool might happen" in the next episode. When the series ended, he finally declared that the promised coolness had, at last, come to pass. He might be crazy, but he's not ''entirely'' wrong in the head.</ref>}}

The fiction of the [[Unicron Trilogy]] got off to a bad start with the ''Armada'' cartoon, and many fans had hopes that ''Energon'' would be a return to glory. Alas, it was not to be; ''Energon'', the televisual representation of Transformers for its 20th anniversary year, is widely considered the worst Transformers cartoon televised in the United States.

===Conceptual and storytelling flaws===
====Plotting====
The primary flaw of ''Energon'' is that it simply does not have enough plot to fill 52 episodes. The first half of the series moves at a respectable pace, and around episode #20, the villains achieve their objective — the restoration of Unicron. However, because there are another 32 episodes to fill, an attack by the Autobots and their allies [[Battle Stations|deactivates Unicron]]. The storyline is then essentially ''repeated'' for twenty more episodes until Unicron is reactivated ''again'' and [[Unicron Perishes|destroyed ''again'']]. But even then, there are ''still'' thirteen more episodes to go, and with the ''driving aspect of the plot'' destroyed, viewers are served up a virtually pointless storyline full of [[To sell toys|repaints and combiners]], which added nothing to what had already taken place.

Individual episodes are likewise padded out with time-killing scenes such as [[stock footage]] sequences, generally a minimum of three per episode. An ''incredible'' amount of time is consumed in communication and report scenes, in which the characters stand around in front of video screens and [[Team Optimus Prime|tell one another things that the viewers already know]].

====Character de-evolution====
The series takes a ''very'' dismissive attitude towards characters and their development. Except for [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]] (who survives the series and resolves his long-running feud with [[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]]), the writers seemed unable to carry personal subplots and conflicts through to any conclusion. Instead, they would either quietly drop these opportunities for character development, or (much more gallingly) the characters would die and/or get mindwiped, so the stories would not ''have'' to be resolved. Examples:

*Demolishor's uncertainty with the Decepticon cause? "Resolved" by having him sacrifice himself to save Megatron, then having Megatron resurrect him with no memories.
*Inferno's struggle against Megatron's Decepticon programming? Brought to an end by having him kill himself, then be resurrected, only to do ''absolutely nothing'' for the rest of the series.
*Kicker's hatred of Transformers? Vanishes with no explanation after roughly two episodes, save for the occasional kick to Ironhide.
*Rodimus and Optimus Prime's ideological feud over whether Unicron should be destroyed? Rodimus puts himself under Optimus's command for the mission to defeat Galvatron, and the argument never comes up again.
*Wing Saber's dedication to capturing Shockblast? Well, he captures him . . . but when Shockblast escapes again, Wing Saber doesn't say a word.
*Starscream's standout character development in ''Armada''? Thrown out the window once he's resurrected with the only explanation given being that he's brought back "incomplete." None of the characters who knew him in ''Armada'' say a word about it including Alexis, the human with the closest bond to Starscream. Alexis and Starscream don't even have so much as one scene with each other.

Many similar examples exist.

====Promoting toys====
Of course, any Transformers series exists [[to sell toys]], but in promoting the abilities and gimmicks of its toyline, ''Energon'' frequently ignored common sense to the most amazing degree to shoehorn these concepts into a setting and story where they didn't make sense.

[[File:Carsinspace.jpg|thumb|Their wheels spin and everything.]]
In choosing to set most of its action in the void of space, ''Energon'' foolishly robbed the Transformers of any real reason to ''transform.'' They can all happily fly in robot mode (in space, on planets, anywhere), inviting the question of why transformation is necessary. But, to promote the fact that the toys transform, characters would routinely change to vehicle mode anyway, even in outer space. Cue innumerable scenes of cars, trucks, and snowmobiles ''driving through space.'' Characters would even transform to vehicle mode on the ground, and then ''drive away into the air''. Everyone could control their flight with no problem in either form, completely invalidating the need for any variety in [[alternate mode]]. Conversely, on occasions when it might make sense to transform to a speedy vehicle form for fast or long-distance travel, characters often choose to run to where they're going instead.

Whereas the English version of the series takes its name from the central plot element (the collection of Energon), the Japanese version, ''Super Link,'' takes its name from the main thematic concept/[[gimmick]]: Autobots [[powerlinx]]ing. The Japanese version of the show contained a lot of waffling about the symbolic nature of this ("Even when one heart is weak, together, we are strong!"). Unfortunately, the fact remains that, almost without exception, these combinations are used in straight firefights, where combining two soldiers into one means ''fewer guns to fire at the enemy.'' Further, the resulting combined soldier rarely shows any sign of enhanced firepower.

Further failing to advertise the combining gimmick are the "Maximus" combiner teams. For about 90% of their screen time, the three giants are seen in ''only'' their combined super robot modes, rarely splitting into individual vehicles. The central torso units are seen as individual robots for perhaps 5 seconds in the entire series, and the show doesn't even acknowledge that the limbs could ''be'' individuals.

===Production flaws===
====Art and animation====
[[File:Scorponok blacklines.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|Rescale what now?]]
''Energon'', animated by [[Actas Inc.]] and [[Studio A-CAT]], introduced a new concept to Transformers cartoons: the blending of CGI with traditional hand-drawn animation. The animators rendered the Transformer characters in cel-shaded CGI while animating humans and other aspects of the show through traditional means. On the plus side, this allowed for a consistently high level of hand-drawn animation quality (especially enjoyable after the often scattershot quality of ''Armada''). In particular, the show uses the CGI to show many characters in motion at once, often with a high frame rate that gives them a very fluid appearance (for example, the many charges of the [[Battle Ravage]] Terrorcon drones, replete with numerous stamping legs and bobbing heads and tails.)

On the other hand, the CGI animation is positively primitive. Characters possess no sense of weight and cannot move in any manner but the most basic. Even ''walking'' is a challenge for characters with bulky models, like Ironhide, who is often reduced to swinging his arms and legs back and forth while sliding along a predetermined path. The black-line outlines of character models were often not rescaled for different shots, resulting in the characters sometimes appearing as indecipherable masses of heavy black lines.

[[File:GuessIronhidesEmotion.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|The above images feature: A horrified Ironhide witnessing Demolishor's death; a surprised Ironhide asking a question; a determined Ironhide charging into battle, and a fighting-mad Ironhide striking a decisive blow. Can you figure out which is which?]]
[[File:Energon InfernoImprisoned torture.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|Are you @&#%$ kidding me?!]]
Additionally, "emotion" is nonexistent; the blank-faced CGI models could not easily display any [[Dull surprise|facial expressions beyond "mouth open" and "mouth closed."]] Numerous characters don't ''have'' facial animation, even ones with mouths. Most prominent among these is Alpha Q, who has ''no facial animation at all'' even though he's basically nothing but four faces. In some cases, when a character needed to emote visibly (Megatron's pronounced yawning, Inferno's [[Imprisoned Inferno|tortured screaming]]), or to do something visually dynamic ([[Jungle Planet (episode)|acrobatic transformation]]), [[Munetaka Abe]] would pick up the animation slack, and the CGI would actually be ''replaced'' with hand-drawn animation just because it ''looked more impressive''. Does that seem ''right'' to you?

Also, the show's CGI compares very poorly with ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines,'' both of which came out ''years'' previously, both of which were ''fully'' CGI (without the crutch of hand-drawn animation to fall back on), and both of which had characters who boasted complex, nuanced facial expressions and fluid, constant body language — even [[Diagnostic Drone|the ones with utterly inhuman faces and bodies]]. The only way to spare the animators' reputation is to assume that Energon's budget was minuscule in comparison—and, to be scrupulously fair, ''Beast Wars'' was one of the most expensive animated television programs ever made at the time.

Even within the limits of the animation, many bad editing, design, and lighting choices make the series difficult to follow visually. Unicron's body — primarily black, to match his ''Energon'' redeco toy — is frequently lost against the blackness of space. When Alpha Q energizes Unicron's head, it becomes the [[Energon Orb]], with no visual indication as to what it used to be. Scenes set underground or within Unicron's body are commonly underlit, to the point that the characters can't even be distinguished. Strange elements such as the [[Rift|rift in space]] are inconsistently animated and described by the characters, making it difficult to figure out what they are.

====Editing====
[[File:E3 titlecard.jpg|thumb|left|Anyone who's got a spare "o" and needs an "i"?]]
At times, ''Energon'' tends to flow like a single feature-length film... a film that has been mercilessly chopped up into 22-minute segments. Thus, confusing, unclear elements like the [[Rift|rift in space]] and [[Unicron]]'s dark, partially re-energized body are routinely shown in closeup without any introductory establishing shots, making it extraordinarily unclear what's happening or where for the viewer who's just watching one particular episode by itself. To be a ''little'' bit fairer, this "chopped-up film" sensation is not exactly uncommon in Japanese animated series with a defined length, but ''Energon'' is a good example of the method at its very worst.

[[File:Improsonedinferno.jpg|thumb|Yeah, why?]]
The show's scene editing also tends to be very abrupt and choppy. Battle animation in particular routinely cuts between numerous, very short scenes, showing several simultaneous but unrelated events as if the viewer must be kept up to date on ''all'' of them in real-time. This makes it difficult to grasp the significance of ''any'' of the events shown. When boiled down, this editing style often serves to mask the fact that not much is happening.

To make things worse for the credibility of the editors, "[[Scorpinok (episode)|Scorpinok]]", "[[A Tale of Two Heros]]", "[[Imprisoned Inferno|Improsoned Inferno]]", and "[[Decepticon Army|Deception Army]]" all have blatant spelling errors '''''in the titles!''''' Making it more annoying is that only the latter two of those four were corrected for the DVD release.
{{-}}

====Music====
This is maybe the only good part of Energon... because the soundtracks for both versions are outstanding. The music created uses a combination of orchestral and synthesized sounds, and has pieces that can be used in any situation. Sadly one of the issues in Energon is the use of music that does not fit the tone of the scene; in "[[Imprisoned Inferno]]", the episode ends with triumphant music despite being a very somber event.

====Scripting and dubbing====
[[File:E1 titlecard.jpg|thumb|left|300px|''Why do we always come here I guess we'll never know It's like a kind of torture to have to watch the show!'']]
{{bigquote|We warped into another galaxy on the outer reaches of the solar system.|Kicker being a nincompoop|"[[The Return of Demolishor]]"}}
The original Japanese version of the show is, in short, sluggish and confusing... but at least the conversations make sense. Even that got lost when the show was ported for North American consumption.

The dub of ''Energon'' seems even ''more'' rushed than ''Armada,'' which was already known for being so hurried that dubbers were working with unfinished animation, got names wrong, and had moments of dialogue that didn't jibe with the action. ''Energon'' [[Battle of the Asteroid Belt|generally]] [[Spark_(episode)|got completed animation]], and ''usually'' got names right—but [[Misha Miramond|Misha]] gets three different names during the course of the show, and [[Downshift (Energon)|Downshift]] and [[Cliffjumper (Energon)|Cliffjumper]] are constantly confused.

The rushed dub script is full of mistranslations. Though some elements needed to be altered to suit a Western audience, it seems that many portions of the dub were never checked to see if they made logical sense. As a result, the script is stilted, perfunctory, and repetitive, constantly throwing in cliché, time-killing phrases like "We've gotta [repeat the plot which everyone already knows]", "Let's do it!", and "It's time to [perform some action that's already blatantly obvious]". There is arbitrary new dialogue (that seems to exist purely due to writers' carelessness) which ''does not match what is occurring onscreen''. The final result is a show with some bizarre non-sequiturs and more than a few moments of ''genuine nonsense.''
[[File:Energon AlphaQ with Megatron'sSword.JPG|thumb|right|250px|This is no ordinary blade. This is the Star Saber!]]
To cite just one example: at the start of "[[Team Optimus Prime]]", Dr. Jones says, in a frustrated tone, "I ''can't'' get back the energon I sent to Kicker. That's ''impossible!''" The entire notion of "getting it back" is absurd on the surface, akin to trying to get back water that went down a drain; saying that not getting it back is ''impossible'' is even more ridiculous; and further, the original dialog is a passive lament, more along the lines of "It's not like that energon I sent is ever coming back." Similar examples exist in nearly every single episode of the show.

Outside of these accidents, there are also some strange ''deliberate'' changes, chief among them the tendency for [[Primus]] to be intermittently ignored. In one episode, Primus would be dubbed accurately, talking with other characters normally, while in the next, he would be deliberately edited out, with his lines erased or given to other characters, and references to him replaced with "the core". Other odd instances include Terrorcon drones having spoken lines randomly inserted in some scenes, never attributed to a particular Terrorcon; a strange tendency for various characters to exclaim that "[[Unicron]] is coming to life!" every time Unicron's body is manipulated by other characters, and a steadfast refusal to acknowledge the deaths of any characters.

Given all of this, the quality of voice acting frequently suffers throughout the show. This can be a common result of the antiseptic ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording) environment, where actors perform solo, with no one to play off of. But ''Energon'' is particularly bad in this regard. Lead talents such as [[Garry Chalk]] and [[David Kaye]] still turn in strong performances, but actors for many of the secondary characters struggle to make something of the material they're given, often sounding flat and uninspired, or just confused. There are many times when ''all'' the actors have no idea what their lines mean in the greater scheme of things, nor any idea of what they're talking about; the Dr. Jones quote cited above is also an example of this problem.

There's also a pronounced amount of "filling dead air," with characters talking from offscreen simply to make noise where there was none originally. Take a drink every time someone goes "Uhh?" to break the silence, and you'll be hammered by the first commercial break.

{{bigquote|I really wish they would put this terrible series out on DVD. Not because I really want to watch it again, but because it would fill that unsightly gap between Armada and Cybertron with unsightly content.|The nicest words ever spoken about the Energon cartoon, [http://tinyurl.com/5tuucc "Gustavo!", August 2008]}}

==Home video releases==
===''Super Link''===
[[File:Tf superlink vol 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Still a mess, but now in a language you can't understand!]]
{{main|Interchannel}}

The ''Super Link'' version of ''Energon'' was released on DVD by Interchannel in [[Japan]] while the series was still on the air.

*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 001 (2004)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 002 (2004)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 003 (2004)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 004 (2004)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 005 (2004)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 006 (2004)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 007 (2004)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 008 (2004)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 009 (2005)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 010 (2005)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 011 (2005)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 012 ([[April 20]] 2005)
*''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 013 (2005)

{{main|Geneon Universal Entertainment}}
Geneon Universal Entertainment will release the entire episodes in one set, with corrected & enhanced animation.
*''Transformer: Super Link'' DVD Set (2016)
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===''Energon''===
[[File:Energon Ultimate Collection DVD.jpg|thumb|100px]]
{{main|Paramount Pictures}}
When Paramount Home Entertainment released a handful of ''Energon'' collections on VHS and DVD in 2004 and 2005, several episodes were re-dubbed to fix numerous mistakes that occurred in the episodes that were broadcast, as well as throwing in some new dialogue.
*''Transformers: Energon—Volume 1: The Battle for Energon'' ([[June 27]], 2004)
*''Transformers: Energon—Volume 2: The Return of Megatron'' (2004)
*''Transformers: Energon—Volume 3: Shockblast Unleashed'' (2005)
*''Transformers: Energon—Volume 4: Omega Supreme'' (2005)
*''Transformers: Energon—The Ultimate Collection'' (2008)
{{-}}
{{main|Shout! Factory}}
Shout! Factory released the complete series on a seven-disc DVD set in 2014.
*''Transformers Energon'': The Complete Series (2014)
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==Foreign names==
*''Mandarin:'' '''''Biànxíng Jīngāng: Néngliàng Jīngtǐ''''' (China, 变形金刚：能量晶体, "Transformers: Energy Crystal")

==Footnotes==
<references />

==External links==
*{{w|lang=ja|トランスフォーマースーパーリンク|''Transformers: Super Link'' at the Japanese Wikipedia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Energon (cartoon)}}
[[Category:Energon media| ]]
[[Category:Television series]]